There was an air of unusual tension in the halls of the Jedi Temple. The Republic had scored a resounding victory over the CIS in the Senate Rotunda, and the jubilation of the feast Masters and Knights had thrown to mark the victory lingered in the air.

During training sessions, drills, and lessons, students, Padawan hopefuls, and even Knights could be heard whispering excitedly as details of the initiation of peace talks and the Jedi returning home continued to be brought forth.

But, there was a rumor that Anakin and Barriss had completely wiped out in the city and were flung into a gambling establishment where they crashed and burned, some said. Others were saying Obi Wan and two more Jedi Masters were also attacked with their cruiser being shot down in the middle of their own pursuit.

Others insisted the person who attacked Padme's apartment wasn't the same person the two Knights had been chasing.

There was also a rumor that Windu, Yoda, and Cadus came to blows over irreconcilable differences.

There were rumors that the Jedi Temple was defenseless, and it was only a matter of days before it was ransacked by the dark lords of the Sith or everyone who had enough of the Jedi's dogmatic ways. The senior Masters knew that much of what was being said was exaggerated or inaccurate on the Padawan's and Republic citizen's behalf.

The Jedi on Coruscant were well protected, but a great many had been thrust into battle or fell in battle. That being said, many Jedi who had been far flung in the war were returning to the Temple, even before the feast began.

Nobody was attacking the Temple, but there could be a rallying somewhere for their foes to begin the inevitable counterattack while their focus shifted from the war, onto more diplomatic and peaceful resolutions to the war.

And, the Jedi Temple was still well beyond the reach of the Sith at this moment in time.

On the orders of Yoda, however, the senior Jedi allowed the enthusiasm of the apprentices and Padawan hopefuls to go unchecked for the sake of improving morale within their ranks. It was agreed that nitpicking and being overly critical of certain things would be to the detriment, rather than to the benefit of the youngsters.

"I am concerned for my Padawan. Whoever did this was luring just not him in, but also us. We had our own battle, chase, and encounter with a different bounty hunter." Obi Wan said to Yoda and Oppo as the three stared at the trio of Jedi floating inside of the bacta tanks.

"Center on what makes you anxious, or young Anakin, you cannot Obi-Wan." Yoda said.

"The boy has immense skill, he has proven that much." Oppo agreed.

"But, this chase was something else completely. This war has made him...Quick to act. It has made all of us a little too quick to act and this whole incident is a testament to that."

Oppo pinned Obi Wan with a piercing, yet calm gaze. "Whoever that person was knew that they had to do something in order to get Anakin to give chase. In the same respect, whoever you came across knew exactly what to do in order to get you, Master Fisto, and Master Gallia to pursue them."

"Yes, yes. It's a flaw more and more common among Jedi. Too hasty and quick, are we to act. Even the older, more experienced Jedi, think things through and discern as they should, they do not. Very tired, many of us are, just not in the Jedi Order."

Obi-Wan considered the words with an assenting nod.

They certainly rang true, and the current conditions among the Jedi and galaxy in this time of mounting tensions, coming peace, and war ending was more than a bit unsettling, with many off on their own far from Coruscant, and even Windu and Cadus coming to blows.

Obi Wan had no idea why the two came to blows and Yoda had to intervene before things took a turn for the worse case scenario. Still, he allowed the incident to just shift through his perception on the edge of his mind, confident Yoda would give him the insight he needed soon enough.

Maybe the Jedi Order was becoming too arrogant. It had been arrogance that played a major role in Count Dooku's decision to depart from the Order, and turn into one of the many enemies of the Republic that wreaked havoc on hundreds of thousands of worlds.

Maybe the Jedi were turning into the very thing they swore to protect everyone against.

"Remember, Obi-Wan. If the prophecy is true, your apprentice is the only one who can bring the force into balance." Oppo said.

Shaking his head as he was yanked from his train of thought, Obi Wan shook his head while letting out a tired sigh at the mentioning of prophecy.

How could Obi Wan ever forget?

Qui Gon had been the first to insist, the first to persist, and the first one to have such a thought that Anakin would be the one to fulfill the prophecy. What Qui-Gon, and anyone else for that matter, had failed to realize, was exactly what bringing balance to the force might mean, was it meant for Anakin to do so, and that the prophecy may be nothing more than a deception in the first place.

It could be something that becomes the downfall of Anakin...

"If he learns to control himself, he will find clarity." Obi Wan said to the two Masters, and neither Yoda nor Oppo corrected him.

"Attend to your own duties, you must, Master Kenobi. To unravel this great mystery, in haste, you should move, but be mindful. Already searching Master Kit Fisto is. Your own clarity, should you be seeking now, do not center on anyone else." Yoda reminded, drawing Obi Wan from his distracting contemplations as surely as if he was reading the Jedi's mind.

"When we solve the similarities, we will route out the source. Then we will meet this monster that struck deep fear in their hearts." Oppo said.

"Anyone that could be with this monster as well, revealed will they be." Yoda finished.

"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan replied, and he held the small piece of ice he had taken from the dead men that shattered before his eyes.


Ventress shook her head in astonishment, noting several thousand of the great battleships among the massive group, their classical design, a sphere surrounded by a nearly enclosed ring, made them easy to spot and distinguish among the massive war ships.

A great fleet spread out wide before her with many more massive ships in the far distance on the other side of the forest moon, indistinguishable in the darkness.

There was the CIS Superweapon.

At the feathered edge of the galaxy, the super weapon floated in stationary orbit above the crimson moon Endor-a moon whose mother planet had long since died of unknown cataclysm and disappeared into unknown realms, and was now orbiting solely around the nearby gas giant.

The super weapon was the first of the CIS's armored battle stations, nearly twice as big as its prototype, which Republic Forces had destroyed the blueprints for two years before. Nearly four times as big as its prototype overall, it was more than four times as powerful.

Yet it was only half complete.

Half of a steely dark orb, hung above the red world of Endor, tentacles of unfinished superstructure curled toward its living companion like the thrashing legs of a Sarlacc striking out in hunger, some tentacles even curled as far as the sun itself.

Ventress's Star Destroyer approached the giant space station at cruising speed.

It was massive, easily more than four cities itself, yet it glided near silently, like some great spear cutting through space. It was accompanied by thousands of Droid Starfighters, black and blue, long, insect-like combat flyers that zipped back and forth around the battleship's perimeter scouting, sounding, docking, and regrouping.

Soundlessly the main bay of the ship opened.

There was a brief ignition-flash, as her ship pressed forward into the darkness of space and out of the darkness of hyperspace.

It sped toward the half-completed monstrosity with quiet purpose.

In the cockpit of their shuttle, the droid captain and his copilot made final readings, monitored descent functions, and checked for any fluctuations in gravity. It was a sequence they always performed during wartime, yet there was an unusual tension winding through them.

The captain flipped the transmitter switch, and spoke into his mouthpiece. "This is Droid Commander AR903 to Command Station, this is AR903. We have code clearance, blue. We're starting our approach. Deactivate the security shields and pull back the turbo laser cannons."

Static filtered over the receiver before the voice of the port controller came through. "The security deflector shield will be deactivated when we have confirmation of your code transmission. Stand by..."

Once more silence filled the cockpit. The shuttle captain, A Pilot Droid, nervously chattered with his copilot before speaking once more.

"This better not take too long, lord Ventress is in no mood to wait, and she has orders straight from lord Sidious himself."

They refrained from glancing back at their passenger, silent in the cabin of the shuttle. The unmistakable sound of the breathing coming from the shadow filled the cabin with a terrible presence.

In the control room of the super weapon below, operators moved along the banks of panels, monitoring all the space traffic and patrols in the area, authorizing and changing flight patterns, accessing certain areas to certain vehicles, and opening up certain docking bays to free up more space.

The shield operator checked his monitor, the view-screen showing the battle station itself, the moon Endor, and a web of energy-something that was on the surface emanating from the crimson moon, encompassing the super weapon almost as if it was feeding.

Only then did the security web begin to separate, retract, and form a clear channel-a channel through which the dot that was the Separatist shuttle sailed, unimpeded, toward the massive battle station.

The shield operator quickly called his control officer over to the view-screen, uncertain how to proceed.

"What is it now? I don't want to hear how one of those furry rats is pulling and chewing at wires again, you either kick all of its teeth out and put it to work in the lower levels or skin its arm and make it haul supplies to the lower levels." The MagnaGuard snapped.

"It has nothing to do with those contemptible rats sir. That approaching shuttle has a class-one priority ranking. Lord Ventress is aboard the shuttle, on personal orders from lord Sidious himself." The droid tried to replace the annoyance in its voice with surprise.

The MagnaGuard glanced at the view-screen for only a moment before realizing who was on the shuttle and spoke to itself.

"It really is Ventress, just as lord Feral said it would be."

The MagnaGuard strode past the view port, where the shuttle could be seen already making its final approach, and headed toward the docking bay.

He turned to the controller.

"Inform the ranks that lord Ventress's shuttle has arrived. Give clearance to her warship to land in one of the bigger hangar bays."

The shuttle sat quietly, dwarfed by the cavernous reaches of the huge docking bay. Thousands of battle droids and their variants stood assembled in formation, flanking the base of the shuttle ramp were Tactical Droids, Super Battle Droids, and the elite, Jedi killing MagnaGuards.

Ahead of all of them were thousands of garrisons of Droideka and all of their variants from the P, W, Ultra, Mark II, and a few more, all in perfect file.

Everyone snapped to attention as the Droid Commander entered.

Tall, wide, precise-were words that could describe the MagnaGuard in charge. It walked without hurry up the ranks of Jedi Killers and Droideka, to the ramp of the shuttle. Hurry was not in its programming, for hurry implied mistakes being made, and it was programmed, distinctively, to not make mistakes.

Great Jedi killers never hurried.

They made the Jedi hurry.

Yet this MagnaGuard, like all droids within the CIS didn't have any programming subduing or getting rid of ambition, and a visit by one such as great as Ventress could not be taken lightly. It stood at the shuttle mouth, waiting with respect.

The exit hatch of the shuttle opened, pulling the droids in formation to even more attention, some even shuffled around to reform their ranks. Only darkness glowed from the exit at first, then footsteps, then the characteristic click of boots, and finally Ventress, along with her golden Assassin Droid, emerged from the darkness.

Ventress took the lead, striding down the ramp, looking over the massive assemblage. She stopped when she came to the MagnaGuard.

The commander bowed slightly.

"Lord Ventress, we have been waiting for your arrival. We are most honored by your presence.'

"We can dispense with the pleasantries, Commander."

Ventress's words rang like a bolt of lightning striking.

"Sidious is concerned with your progress on this super weapon. I am here to also collaborate with Feral on multiple projects."

The MagnaGuard stood more at attention. This was something he hadn't been expecting. "I assure you, the droids and the billions of Ewoks that we have as slave labor are working as fast as they can. We'll have the ability to absorb all of the energy from the nearby sun, gas giant, and Endor itself, given proper time."

"Perhaps I can encourage the Ewoks to make progress in ways you have not considered, commander." Ventress growled.

She had ways, of course.

Everyone in the galaxy knew she always got what she wanted.

She had a million and more ways, and a million more ways again to get what she wanted.

The MagnaGuard's tone was even, though deep inside, it did feel a sense of urgency. "That won't be necessary, I can assure you without question this station will be battle ready and fully operational ahead of schedule. We will have the capability to absorb the energy from the nearby sun and put this whole system into perpetual darkness, just as we planned, and ahead of schedule."

"Sidious nor the CIS Council share your optimistic appraisal of the situation."

"I fear they ask for the impossible, even with all of the droids, the Ewoks, and other species we may get for labor...We will still need time to put things into place. Perhaps you could explain that to them that money isn't the key to everything."

Ventress's face remained impassive, but the malice was clear in her body posture.

The MagnaGuard looked on edge. "Is lord Sidious coming here?'

"No, but that isn't the point.. He will be more than displeased if you are behind schedule when we consolidate our forces on Tatooine with the others. If there is any delay in our movements at that point in time, the blame will fall solely onto your shoulders, commander." Ventress said, tone crisp and clear to spread the threat.

"We shall double our efforts and increase the efforts of the Ewoks one thousand fold, we will take away what little food and water we have given them and make them work with no rest, lord Ventress."

And, the droid meant it.

It was getting tired of having to give them scraps and pieces of berries.

Ventress nodded slowly. "I hope you do, Commander. There can be no further delay in the final destruction of the outlaw Jedi and Rebellion. And we have secret news now the Jedi will be gathering all its forces into a single giant force on Coruscant once more. The time is at hand when we can crush them, without mercy, in a single blow. Certain Jedi and certain brigades of the GAR will be concentrated on certain worlds until peace talks finish."

For the briefest second, Ventress measured her breathing, keeping it shallow as she exhaled.

After leaving the command bridge, Ventress went directly to the dimly lit hangar where she kept her starship.

Thirty meters long, the sharp-nosed, knife-edged ship had been a graceful Geonosian ship as a Star recon vessel, manufactured in the depths of Geonosis itself.

The entire vessel had been extensively customized in the secret laboratory of Poggle The Lesser to become the perfect vehicle for Ventress's covert missions in the Mid Rim and Colonies. It had four concealable laser cannons, sophisticated sensor and tracking systems, and the most advanced hyperdrive for its model to date.

For sub-light travel, it was equipped with a prototype of a high-temperature ion engine system that required large, retractable radiator panels that folded in during landings. On the port side, a cargo drop panel contained Sith probe droids, numerous weapons, and her personal speeder bike.

Then there was the superb cloaking device.

While most Republic and CIS scientists considered invisibility in certain ranges and fields to be theoretical, the Geonosian had already developed a powerful cloak field generator for all of their stealth fighters halfway through the Clone Wars.

Contained within the ship's distinctive long design, the generator enabled the entire vessel and its contents to vanish or re-materialize with the ease of a lever.

Ventress walked to the ramp that extended from the rear of the sleek ship to the hangar floor.

At the bottom of the ramp stood her golden protocol and assassin droid, designated C-5YQ.

The droid trained its red photo-receptors on Ventress. While 5YQ resembled an ordinary Cybot Galactica TC protocol droid, its body contained over three thousand concealed weapons.

She knew the exact location and function of each weapon, for she herself had modified the droid to be her ship's main guard and pilot.

"Everything is in working order, lord Ventress." C-5YQ said.

"Good. We don't have time to be idle."

Since 5YQ had nothing else to report, it remained silent. Ventress was never one for idle chatter and she made it clear to her droid that it should speak only when absolutely necessary or if it had something important to say.

Ventress glided up the ramp and into the ship, followed by C-5YQ's mechanical footsteps. Inside the ship's control room, C-5YQ strapped himself into one of the co-pilot seats while Ventress settled herself in and readied the ship for launch.

As soon as the engines fired, Ventress piloted the sharp ship out of the hangar, then up and away from the super weapon.

She punched coordinates into the nav-computer and let the ship's autopilot take over while she checked the power cells on her light-saber duo. They were fully charged. Cadus had humiliated her in battle, not only stripping her of her weapons, but completely disassembling them and sending them across Naboo.

He merely toyed with her, when he should have ended it within a second.

But that's what she had to go through, to understand her own lack of ability was her own fault. Now that Dooku was imprisoned and she reported directly to Darth Sidious, no longer needing an intermediary, she was quite certain she'd surpass Dooku's capabilities.

As the ship soared through space, 5YQ made an adjustment to the nav-computer. "We'll be arriving on Endor in less than ten minutes."

The journey from the battle station to the crimson moon passed without any incident. Ventress used the time to install the droid starfighter-controlling data card into the main computer. As soon as they entered the orbit of Endor, she activated the ship's powerful sensors.

The sensors sent out pulses in all directions, gathering information from the entire Moddell Sector.

5YQ adjusted the scanners, tuning them to search for and track any objects that moved in a trajectory away from Endor, narrowing the search further by transmitting a request for identification profiles from every outgoing star-ship and transport within range.

Ventress carefully viewed the monitor that displayed the collected information.

A list of fifty thousand star-ships, twice that in transports, and thrice that in freighters, their respective sub-light speeds, cargo holds, and their distances from Endor constantly flowed down the screen like one giant scroll of numbers, figures, estimations, and codes.

Ventress did not expect any vessel to declare itself as a vessel filled with Ewoks and other resources taken from Endor, but she was not surprised when only twenty thousand of the total ships gathered automatically responded with their ID profiles.

All of the other ships withheld their identification, requesting time to secure, store, and organize all of their cargo while cleaning up their hulls and docking bays. Ventress focused more than she had been before as checked the coordinates of the ships.

According to her ship's nav-computer, the ships were still in the Moddell Sector, traveling through to the Anoat system on a direct bearing for the only habitable world in the system, while others, were moving in deep space vectors that could only lead to the massive curve of the outer edge of the galaxy, going all the way up past Mon Calamari.

The ship's sensors could not determine whether the distant ships were transports or freighters strictly speaking, but Ventress would find out soon enough. She swiveled her seat to face C-5YQ. The droid remained seated beside her, running over the data while inputting certain details into the ship's datalog.

"What do you know about Endor, Five Y Que?" Ventress asked, using the name the droid went by.

C-5YQ tilted his head slightly to the side before he replied. "It's a neutral world according to my understanding, and for what it is worth, it is the only planet that has maintained independence from the political control of the Republic, CIS, or any other government in the galaxy for over ten thousand years. However, the resources this world holds are quite vast in comparison to some of the other worlds in our galaxy."

Ventress nodded her head. "Are you familiar with Ewoks of this world?"

"The Ewoks have only been on Endor. They are a hairy, bipedal humanoid species. There are hundreds and thousands of Ewoks in every village. They all share a collective mind and communicate with each other. Their intelligence is limited to the stone age, sticks and spears, and they believe in things such as gods. They are also savage cannibals that perform sacrifices and are particularly sadistic. These characteristics alone make them contemptible enough to exterminate just not in my opinion, but also the rest of the galaxy."

Ventress searched through her sensor screens for the coordinates of the farthest noted location within the massive, and steadily growling fleet. From that point in space, an invisible trail of charged particles led all the way towards the Braxant Sector.

The sensors confirmed that the particles had been left in the wake of parting ships and their sub-light engines.

C-5YQ piloted the Infiltrator toward Endor and entered the crimson moon's orbit.

"The Ewoks are supposed to be in the process of being wiped out as they fulfill their purpose. Sensors indicated some ships were destined for Braxant Sector. My objective is to learn what I can from experimenting on the Ewoks, retrieve CIS property, and terminate the Ewoks that are useless."

C-5YQ's photo-receptors brightened as he processed the data. "Do you want to know how many Ewoks are alive, or the estimated total population?"

"The population of them is insignificant. I have informed you of the Ewoks because you will be manipulating them as well."

The droid's photo-rececptors brightened and a laugh escaped his mouth. "It is likely the Ewoks will see me as some sort of god or deity. If they do believe that, there is a high probability that some have escaped and wish to lead a rebellion against lord Feral."

"Naturally." Ventress replied.

She used the sensors to get a fix on the charged particles that would lead her to find any unidentified star-ship that would escape her sights from here on. Gripping the controls, Ventress moved into a rapid descent toward Endor's surface.

"I can manipulate them well enough to make them lead us to where they are hiding."

Without looking at C-5YQ, Ventress spoke. "We'll delay my attack until their guard is down, in that case."

C-5YQ thought about it for a moment. "If the Ewoks are preparing a trap for us possibly, when will their guard be down?"

Ventress smiled at the droid. "After we dispose of some droids and let them see your gold plating. When we win their trust and feel the warmth, that is when their guard will be dropped."


The trees of Endor stood thousands of feet tall. Their trunks, covered with shaggy, bloody, rusted bark, rose straight as pillars, some of them as big around as entire cities, some thin as skyscrapers. Their foliage was spindly, thick, blood drenched, but lush in color, scattering remains of Ewoks in piles over the forest floor.

Distributed thickly among these ancient giants was the usual array of woodsy flora, pines of several species, various deciduous forms, variously gnarled and leafy. The groundcover was primarily fern, but so dense in spots as to resemble a gentle green sea that rippled softly in the forest breeze.

This was a huge part of the moon.

Verdant, primeval, silent.

Most of the moon was just the opposite.

Barren, desolate, and dry.

No amount of light from the sun filtered through the crimson skies above, being shut out as effectively as ray shields contain someone, as if the very poisonous air itself were alive.

It was cold, and it was biting.

This was Endor.

On the hill adjacent to the clearing, Ventress was beginning to make her way up a steep trail. She led the way, while C-5YQ followed in single file. And he knew this was a crucial mission. If they failed to wipe out the Ewoks, the greater part of their plan was doomed.

There were no second chances and no thoughts of mercy.

They were alert as they made their way silently up the forest path. C-5YQ brought up the rear, eyes swiveling round and round as he went, blinking his sensor lights at the infinitely tall trees which surrounded them.

"Not a bad world." Ventress commented.

"I disagree. With our luck, it's inhabited solely by those cannibals. It is likely Lord Feral wiped out everything else with an aerial bombardment-that is the only way you could splinter these trees like we've seen."

They reached the crest of the hill. They dropped to the ground, crawled the last few feet, and peered over the edge. All at once, the forest seemed to become much more silent. Ventress and C-5YQ moved forward slowly, careful to view what seemed to be a garrison of droids.

Pointing through the ferns, C-5YQ cautioned stealth. Not far below, in a ditch beside a bloody pool of water, two droid scouts were setting up a temporary camp. They were fixing the perimeter, preoccupied with finishing off a few dozen Ewoks.

Two speeder bikes were parked nearby.

"Should we try to go around them?" Whispered C-5YQ.

"Is it just the two of them or is there a garrison nearby? They killed about forty of those creatures, so it begs the question where could the others be?" Ventress still sounded cautious.

"We'll have to look for ourselves if we want the answer to that."

Ventress smiled.

It was beginning.

Ventress motioned for her guard to follow as she quietly edged closer to the scout camp.

When they were quite near the clearing, but still covered by underbrush, Ventress slid quickly into more cover. Before she could move, though, they were distracted by a loud commotion near the water. They flattened to the ground and watched.

An Ewok was engaged in a rousing fist fight with one of the scouts, struggling to keep up its attack as its only arm grew tired. The Ewok tried to scramble away, but by the time it got started, the scout was able to get off a few shots from his blaster.

The ill-fated Ewok crashed against an enormous tree as a brief, muffled screech tore through its throat while the droid peppered it furiously.

Ventress drew her laser pistol and raced into the battle zone, followed closely by C-5YQ. As soon as they were running clear, though, several large laser blasts went off all around them, forcing them to the ground and rolling for cover.

Surprised, they both looked up to see two more droid scouts emerge from the far side of the clearing, heading for their speeder bikes hidden in the peripheral foliage. The scouts holstered their pistols as they mounted the bikes and fired up the engines.

C-5YQ staggered to his feet. "Over there, two more of them!"

Ventress ran to the remaining rocket speeder, charged it up, and took off in pursuit of the fleeing scouts. As she tore past the droid, he jumped up behind her on the bike, and she hit the throttle to clear the increasing gap.

"Center switch!" He shouted to her over her shoulder, over the roar of the roaring engines. "Jam the comlinks."

As they soared out of the clearing after the droids, they sped through the dense foliage, a few feet off the ground, Ventress at the controls, her droid hanging on behind her. The two escaping droid scouts had a good lead, but at hundreds of miles per hour, Ventress was the better pilot.

She had always been an ace.

She let off a burst from the speeder's laser cannon rapidly, but she was still too far behind to be very accurate on the shot. The explosions hit just inches away from the moving targets, splintering trees and setting the shrubbery into smolders, as the bikes weaved in and out between massive, imposing tree trunks that had been splintered.

"Move closer!" C-5YQ shouted.

Ventress opened the throttle, and closed the gap as surely as she'd close the gap in a physical duel. The two droid scouts sensed their pursuer gaining and recklessly veered left, right, and then up sharply, skimming through a narrow opening between two trees.

"Get its flank!" C-5YQ yelled over the roaring wind.

She pulled her speeder so close to the scout's, their steering vanes just inches from scraping against each other. C-5YQ lunged from the back of Ventress's bike to the back of the scout's, grabbed the droid around the neck, and threw it off, watching it smash into a thick trunk with a shattering crunch, and settled forever as scattered parts.

C-5YQ scooted to the driver's seat of the speeder bike, and adjusted the controls for a few seconds, and then lurched forward, following Ventress, who pulled ahead and opened up the throttle.

The two of them tore after the remaining scout.

Over hill and under a broken wooden bridge they flew, narrowly avoiding collision with both obstacles, sending vines and leaves ablaze from their after burns, they flung themselves deeper into the labyrinth of carnage.

The chase swung around and passed a crimson lagoon area where two more droid scouts were resting.

A moment later, they swung into pursuit, now hot on the duo's tail, blasting away with laser cannons.

"Follow that one!" Ventress shouted, indicating the scout in the lead. "I'll take the two behind us!"

C-5YQ shot ahead without a second thought, keeping pace with the scout. Ventress, at the same instant, flared up her retrorockets, slamming the bike into rapid deceleration. The two scouts on her tail zipped past her in blurs on both sides, unable to slow their momentum.

Ventress hit the throttle, immediately roaring into high velocity again, firing with her blasters, now in pursuit of her pursuers. Her fourth, fifth, and sixth round hit their marks. One of the scouts, unable to keep control of the flaming bike, went spinning against a fallen branch in a rumble of flame.

The scout's cohort didn't even take a glance, and put his bike into supercharge mode, speeding even faster.

Ventress easily kept pace.

Far ahead, C-5YQ and the first scout continued their own high speed chase through the barricades of impassive trunks and low slung branches. He had to brake through so many turns, in fact, he seemed unable to draw any closer to his target.

With the throttle roaring, he shot into the air, at an unbelievably steep incline, and quickly vanished from sight. The scout turned, uncertain whether to relax or cringe at his pursuer's sudden disappearance. His whereabouts became clear soon enough.

Out of the canopy, C-5YQ dive bombed on him, cannons blasting rapidly from above. The scout's bike took the shock wave from three near hits. His speed was even greater than before, and in a moment he was racing alongside the droid, but it reached down and drew a handgun from its holster.

They both fired.

C-5YQ's bike spun out of control and it jumped free just in time as the speeder smashed against a giant tree, exploding in pure light and dispersing energy as the modified droid rolled clear into a tangle of matted vines, rotting logs, and shallow water with a thud.

The scout was on a collision course with a fallen tree. At the last second it swerved, slamming its bike into a branch, tipping precariously, barely missing the first large fallen trunk in its path, zooming under it, but when the droid came out the other side it crashed directly in the center of a boulder.

The steering vanes of Ventress and the last scout locked.

With these vanes locked, the bikes flew as one, though neither could steer.

The scout tried to bank hard to the right, wishing to smash Ventress into an onrushing line of branches on the flank. But at the last second Ventress leaned all her weight left, turning the locked speeders vertical, with her on top, and the scout on the bottom.

The droid scout suddenly stopped applying brute force, and threw its own weight in the same direction, resulting in the bikes flipping over four whole times, coming to rest exactly upright once more in perfect unison...

Only with an enormous tree looming ominously up ahead.

Without a second thought Ventress threw herself from her bike. A fraction of a second later, the scout veered sharply once more, the steering vanes separating at last, and Ventress's speeder crashed into the massive trunk, turning into a wedge of fire.

Ventress flipped, shooting up a moss-covered slope. The scout swooped in high, circled around, and came right for her as she shot out of the bushes, bearing down on her full throttle, laser cannons firing hundreds of times in a second.

She ignited one of her light-sabers and stood her ground. She deflected every bolt the scout fired at her expertly, but the bike kept coming despite the bolts crashing into it, and in a few moments, the two would meet.

The droid hit the throttle, the bike accelerating even more, intent on slicing her in half.

At the last moment, though, Ventress parried with perfect timing, and cleaved off the bike's steering vanes with two slashes of her light-saber, carving into it horizontally on the second flourish. The bike quickly began to shudder before it was shooting out of control entirely, and in another second it was a rumbling billow of fire on the forest floor.

Ventress snuffed out her light-saber and headed back to C-5YQ.

C-5YQ ceased his obsessive polishing and looked with disdain into the forest. "We should rest for a while."

"I want to find whichever Ewoks are planning a rebellion."

C-5YQ nodded, without argument he brought himself to her flank. "One of those furry rats might be closer than we think. The chances of one watching us right now is very high despite the occupation of this world by lord Feral."

"You are right. That's why we are doing things this way."

The first thing Ventress became aware of was her boots. They were wet. They were in a relatively deep puddle of blood, getting completely soaked. She moved her boots out of the crimson with a little splash, revealing something else.

Little pieces of fur, pieces of fingers, and even cleft heads littered the puddle and surrounding area.

The next thing to enter her consciousness were sounds. The splash her feet had made, the rustle of leaves from her elbows, there were chirps and shrieks as well as the usual forest sounds. Smells began to fill her nostrils next, humid putrid smells, strong blood smells, and the odor of distant decay.

Taste came with smell-the taste of blood and bile on her tongue.

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, to discern if it was her own, or if it belonged to the Ewoks, but she couldn't guess. The temperature overloaded her senses. Cold embraced the fingers of her body, while her head, uncovered, got the worst of it.

A breeze drafted her back.