From their perch on the hilltop a kilometer away, carefully hidden beneath a white blanket that matched the snow, Eli and Talon watched as Cade Skywalker entered the portal on the monolith's slope, disappeared for less than two minutes, then came falling out. His inert form tumbled down the black stone slope before being grabbed by the astromech droid and lowered as gently as possible to the ground, where Skywalker's friends gathered around.

From his position, Eli could see nothing except their huddled backs, but when they remained like that for over a minute he said, "Something's seriously wrong with Skywalker."

"Agreed," Talon said, and continued to peer through her macrobinoculars.

Eli looked at her, expecting more. Up until now he'd been wary of approaching that group; aside from being outnumbered, there was little they could do against Skywalker's Force abilities. Now the situation had changed; Skywalker was down and his allies were distracted. There was no better time than now to take them by surprise. Eli knew it and so did Talon, but his master's jaw clenched tight as she tried to decide what to do.

In a low voice he said, "We can take the bike and come in fast. Stun as many as we can on the first pass."

"Are you confident in your aim, apprentice?"

Without the Force he could never be fully confident of anything, but this was an opportunity they couldn't afford to waste. "I can do it," he said.

"Very well." Talon finally lowered her binoculars. "Disabling the Wookiee is the top priority. Then the Imperial Knight."

"I understand."

"Good." She unfurled the blanket, exposing them to the cold, and pushed to her feet. Eli hurried with her to the speeder bike and hoped what he'd promised was true.

-{}-

There seemed nothing they could do except huddle around Cade's limp body. Deliah still held him in her arms, his head in her lap, but the touch of her pink fingers to his face did nothing to stir him. His eyelids twitched and his hands trembled slightly; his breath was shallow but constant and fast. It was like he was trapped in a dream he could not escape. For all any of them knew, he might be trapped there forever.

Through his shock Jariah was angry. For all he knew Cade's brain had been permanently fried by whatever had happened inside the monolith. There was no doubt the thing had opened to him because he alone could touch the Force. Then it had overloaded his mind with mystic power or knowledge or whatever the Force gave you. Through all this long quixotic quest Jariah had tried to tell himself that the dangers were less than what they'd faced before, because Cade was the last damed Jedi in the galaxy and he could handle anything. But of course that was a lie; there were things not even Cade could handle. The worst part was, Jariah had seen this coming all along, or something like it, but he'd shoved down his worries because Cade had seemed in control.

He hated the Force, more than anything, because it always made him helpless.

Deliah was whispering to Cade, telling him to wake up. Lowbacca roared loudly and C-3PO said, "I quite agree. We must get him to the medical bay on Mynock immediately."

"Is he okay to move?" asked Kyra.

"Nothing's wrong with him physically," Deliah said. "It's just whatever that thing did to his head…" Her voice broke. "He's gone. I can't sense any of him."

The Zeltron's empathic skills worked even when the Force didn't. Jariah scowled and said, "Okay, let's pick him up and get him inside." He doubted Mynock's medical systems could do help with whatever damage the Force had wrought, but at least they'd get him out of the cold, away from the damned pyramid.

Lowbacca had enough strength to carry him easily, and the Wookiee moaned for Deliah to move aside. She stroked Cade's face one more time, then reluctantly moved away.

As Lowbacca bent to pick him up, Jariah noticed a sound, low and humming beneath the wind's faint whistle. It was the sound of repulsors, approaching fast, but it was so out-of-place and unexpected it took a second to register.

That was a second too much. Jariah lifted his head just in time to see a single speeder bike, dual-seated and mounted by twin black-clothed figures, leap over the pyramid's edge and veer down at them. As he reached for his blaster the bike pivoted to circle around them, exposing its flank but also giving the back-seat passenger a chance to aim his rifle.

Two shots popped out before Jariah drew his own gun; both took Lowbacca in the side as he was bent low to grab Cade, and the Wookiee got out merely a low moan as blue stun energy flashed across his body. His massive, furred form dropped to the ground and just barely avoided crushing Cade.

By then Jariah had his pistol drawn, and so did Deliah, but the speeder bike was fast and the pilot jerked and juked to avoid their tracking fire. The back-seater released another spray of stun bolts. Jariah barely managed to dodge them but Deliah was a second too slow, and she crumpled as well.

Jariah dropped to one knee and released his own shot. This one flew steady and true, winging the speeder bike's rear section and causing it to lurch. The pilot dropped altitude and Jariah got a good look at her. The long lekku and pretty face done up in scarlet and black was as unwelcome as it was unmistakable. That probably meant the gunner in the back was the human apprentice they'd tangled with last year.

"Fall back!" Jariah called as he scooted toward Lowbacca, Deliah, and Cade, all piled unconscious together. Jao and Kyra dropped down beside them, both hefting blasters, but Talon didn't bother to circle around for another pass. Instead she drove her speeder right at them, forcing them to fire or flee before getting fatally rammed.

Jariah tried to do both at once; he managed to land two scorching shots on the bike's metal nose but missed Talon herself, and he was barely able to dodge out of the bike's path. Jao and Kyra and merely managed to dive away in time.

However, Talon cut acceleration at the last second and brought her bike to a shuddering halt atop the three prone bodies. As she hovered over them she drew a blaster and levelled it at Jariah. The boy in the back dismounted nimbly, rifle aimed at Jao and Kyra.

For a second everything was still. Cold wind blew across the snow-swept plain.

Then Talon said, "Put down your weapon, Jariah Syn. You can't win here."

His first instinct was bravado. "It's still two versus three, schutta."

She was unimpressed. "What happened to Skywalker?"

"You think we know? He went into that monolith, came out a second later like that." Jariah's eyes darted beneath the bike, then back to Talon. "Bet you were watching the whole time, weren't you?"

"Correct." She dismounted the bike, attention still on him. "Is he alive?"

Jariah considered lying but said, "He's all twitchy and stuff. Don't know if there's anything left in his head. Do you know what this thing is?"

There was a tiny pause, as if she were waiting for her partner to speak. Then she admitted, "We do not."

"Good. Then we're all in the same boat," Jao said. "We might be able to work together on this."

The Imp was an idiot if he thought rapprochement would work with Sith. Talon thought so too. "We do not 'work with' our enemies."

"Are we enemies? You're not a Sith anymore, not really, just like I'm no Imperial Knight." Jao edged a step closer; Kyra stayed behind him, feet planted.

"I will always be Sith," Talon snapped. It sounded like Jao had struck a nerve.

"Right now we're nothing," Jao insisted, and took another step. "There's no reason to fight."

"Hold it," the young man said. Eli, Jariah remembered. "Stay where you are and drop the weapon."

Jariah watched, surprised and appalled, as the Imperial carefully placed his rifle on the ground. Kyra, thankfully, kept her raised and levelled, though Jariah doubted she'd be much good in a firefight.

Jao asked Talon, "Do you still have the lightsaber you stole from me at Te Hasa?"

Talon blinked, then said, "I do."

"Well, you can keep it," Jao said as he raised both hands in the air. "It doesn't do me much good anymore."

Talon frowned but kept eyes and blaster on Jariah. If Jao was trying to distract the Sith or force their guard down it didn't seemed to be working. The Twi'lek said, "Tell both of your droids to come here."

"Don't need to tell them anything," said Jariah. "They can do as they please."

To his disappointment more than surprise, C-3PO shuffled awkwardly up to the Sith and their captives, R2-D2 rolling behind him. "Oh dear," the protocol droid said, "This is a most unfortunate stand-off. And it seems to me quite an unnecessary one."

"You understand nothing, droid."

"With all modesty, Mistress Talon, I think it's quite the contrary. I am, after all, a protocol droid, and my years of experience in diplomatic relations outnumber your years alive several times over. It is clear this situation preludes an outcome that will benefit neither party."

"I did not ask your opinion," she growled. Whether C-3PO was trying to rattle her or not, he was getting the job done.

R2-D2 rolled past Threepio's gold legs and edged closer to the prone bodies. The droid gave a mournful whistle. Talon looked at him with annoyance.

"He's Cade's droid." Jariah he realized what was about to happen and readied himself. "He wants to see if he's okay."

"It's just a machine," Talon scowled, eyes darting back and forth between Jariah and the astromech rolling up to her.

"That thing's more than that," Jariah insisted. "Trust me, if you think-"

He didn't say more and didn't need too. When he was a quarter-meter from Talon, four of R2-D2's side hatches popped open. The droid unleashed a pained-sounding whine and, with it, expelled a blaster of crackling electricity that jumped across its metal shell to the nearest conducting body. Talon tried to jump back, but without the Force her reflexes were a millisecond too slow.

She howled in pain as R2-D2's shock jumped up her leg and jolted her body. Her hand spasmed around the blaster but when she squeezed the trigger the shot went high, and Jariah was already on one knee. He nimbly switched his blaster from kill to stun and released a single shot that took the Twi'lek in the chest and dropped her.

There was no time to feel triumphant. Jao had charged Eli without a weapon; the younger man might have blasted him in the gut but shock delayed his reaction. The older man barreled into Eli, backing him into the side of the speeder bike. Eli let out a cry of pain but wasn't done yet; he pushed back and slipped sideways, bounding away from the bike. Jao pivoted to track him, only to turn into the red-white blaze of Eli's ignited lightsaber. The blade sliced into his waist from the right, beneath the ribcage, scorching through clothes, skin, and entrails.

Jao got out only a grunt; Kyra screamed and rushed Eli. The young Sith pulled his blade out of Jao and the wounded Imperial stumbled backward and fell. His body wilted across the back of the speeder, eyes staring blankly skyward. If he was alive he wouldn't last long.

While Jariah hurried around the bike to get a clear shot at Eli's back, the Sith had turned to face Kyra. The girl unleashed a flurry of laser blasts and the Sith tried to parry the red kill shots, but without the Force his reflexes were slow. He deflected blasts aimed at his core but one skimmed his left shoulder, scorching it.

Kyra, desperate and angry, wasn't thinking straight; instead of staying back and dropping Eli with either a stun or kill shot, she rushed toward him and Jao both. The Sith recovered from his pain, deflected two more shots aimed at his heart, then cut the barrel off Kyra's blaster.

Eli lunged close and- smart lad- instead of spearing her through with his saber as he easily could have, he maneuvered himself behind Kyra and locked one arm around her neck in a chokehold. He faced Jariah using Kyra as a body-shield and held his lightsaber horizontally in front of her, so he could either deflect shots or kill her with a small motion.

Kyra gasped for air and instinctively clawed at Eli's arm. The boy glared at Jariah, who kept his blaster high and aimed. He might be able to get off a stun blast that took Eli down but left Kyra unharmed; the slightly safer option would be to stun Kyra first, then try to land a second shot on the Sith.

Either way, Eli could easily kill the girl before Jariah got to her.

The kid was in hardly better position. Talon was down. Kyra was squirming even as he choked her; the girl wasn't much shorter than he was and she was trying to work one leg around his ankle to unbalance him. Eli avoided her boots as he backstepped them toward the speeder bike, over which Jao's prone form was still draped.

Jariah decided to try and rattle him. "You really botched this, you know? You could have taken us all by surprise but no. Now we've got your schutta master. You've got a feisty prisoner. You really think you can run anywhere with her?"

Kyra kicked at Eli's legs but he didn't budge. The boy glanced over his shoulder at Jao and said, "I hurt your friend. The longer we stand off for the less likely he'll survive."

Jariah shrugged. "He's no friend of mine. Think I care about some Imp?"

He had no intention of letting Jao die, but it was close enough to his real feelings that Jariah could sell it. He saw doubt in Eli's face, pain and shock in Kyra's. He'd apologize later.

"I'm only in this for Cade. You and all your Jedi-Sith poodoo don't matter to me. Far as I'm concerned the whole galaxy'd be better off if your kind stayed extinct." He tilted his blaster slightly for emphasis. "Do whatever you want, bukee. Don't matter to me either way."

Hurt deepened on Kyra's face, but Eli got thoughtful. He edged himself against the side of the speeder bike, then tightened his hold on Kyra, arcing his back to lift her fully off her feet. The girl kicked futilely; Jariah popped off his first shot. It took Kyra in the chest and stunned her instantly but Eli didn't let go. Jariah took a second shot at the boy's face but he was already falling backward, carrying Kyra with him and he sprawled onto the bike's front seat. Instead of dropping Kyra and wrestling for the bike's controls he jammed the heel of his boot into the right pedal and fired and accelerator.

The speeder bike went flying blindly, three bodies sprawled atop it. Jariah swore and fired off two shots, both wide; he steadied his grip and took aim again at the fast-receding tail end, but better judgement took hold and he held his fire. Eli was wrestling the thing under control; he watched it jerk back and forth, then peel in a smooth rightward curve. Stun him now- with Jao and Kyra already down- and the bike would probably fly off and crash, killing all three.

Jariah swore again and lowered his blaster. He looked at the bodies sprawled around him in the snow: Cade's, Deliah's, Lowbacca's, Talon's. R2-D2 moaned soft sympathy and C-3PO said, "I'm sorry, Master Jariah, but you did the best you could. Frankly, I thought it quite impressive."

"Not good enough, Threepio." He scowled and holstered his blaster. "Not good enough."

-{}-

By the time Eli piloted his speeder back to the crevasse in which they'd dropped their shuttle, his heart had almost stopped racing and he'd almost gathered his thoughts. Syn was right; he'd bungled so badly he'd lost his master. He brought two bodies back with him, sprawled atop one another on the speeder's rear seat. The young woman was still out with the stun blasts, and the Imperial Knight seemed to have gone into shock after the lightsaber-wound in his gut. As he dismounted the bike Eli looked at them both and wondered what to do. He could take one hostage and leave the other here in the crevasse, thus forcing Skywalker's allies to waste time looking for them. Yet he didn't see what that would get him; they still had Talon, and he'd need to do something about that sooner rather than later.

He guided the speeder bike into the shuttle's hold, bodies and all. When he looked at her more closely he saw the woman was no older than him; perhaps she'd been a Jedi padawan. He'd need to restrain her. The Imperial Knight would need medical attention if he was to survive, and Eli wasn't even sure if he should bother.

Then he realized he had greater concerns. As long as he was on this planet, Skywalker's allies might still find him. They had more people and Mynock was a tougher ship, and they'd have no problem pinning him in his crevasse. Even with two hostages they could force him to surrender, which meant he needed to get away from Tython. He hurriedly found restraining cuffs, rolled the girl onto her stomach, and latched her hands behind her back. Then he raced to the cockpit and began starting the ship.

The familiar lights and sounds of the cockpit further anchored his mind. Eli had options to consider now. He could run from Tython, leave the system entirely, then hail Darth Nihl and explain the situation. If he were to admit losing Darth Talon it would shame them both permanently, and he had a feeling Nihl's trust in them had already been severely eroded. Nihl might even order him to return to the Outer Rim and leave Talon in enemy hands, and he found he did not want to do that. Talon had never been a warm and nurturing master, but she was still his master, and it wouldn't feel right abandoning her.

More importantly, if he fled the Deep Core now he'd have nothing to show in the search for Khat Lah. He only knew that, somehow, the Yuuzhan Vong had made an important discovery at that pyramid. Perhaps Skywalker had made the same one himself, and his addled mind yet held the secret to recovering the Force for them all.

Eli's business here was clearly not finished, but he couldn't wait for Mynock to hunt him down either. Once repulsors were powered on, he raised the shuttle carefully out of the crevasse and into the sky. Then he fired engines and pushed them out of the atmosphere.

He checked scanners nervously. Mynock didn't show on them, nor any other ship. When he cleared atmosphere he was forced to make the choice: run back to the Outer Rim and beg mercy from Lord Nihl, or stay here, wait for Skywalker's allies to show themselves, and try to force a favorable solution from this impasse.

If Talon had been here he'd had more confidence, but she wasn't and that was exactly the problem. Stern cold teacher though she'd been, she'd still been his guide. Now Eli felt truly alone in a way he hadn't since his so-called protectors had sold him out to Sith hunters five years ago. His fate was entirely in his own hands.

He could fly off to an unknown system and leave everything, Jedi and Sith, behind forever. The idea came to him unbidden; it thrilled and frightened at once. The precipice enticed but also repelled. He could never imagine a life without one order or the other. They were literally all he'd known.

He took a deep breath and checked his scanners again. Still no Mynock, but that ship would have to rise sooner or later. Eli looked dead ahead and saw both of Tython's moons, hovering on either corner of his viewport. Ashla and Bogan: one light, one dark. Viewed from his angle they seemed like mirror images, and he could not say which seemed the original.

Eli set a course and nudged the shuttle forward. He would bide his time in lunar orbit and wait for Mynock to show itself. Without hesitation he set course for Bogan, the dark moon. He told himself it was declaration of purpose, and a promise for the future.