A New Arrival, part 3 - Ground Zero
By Gabe Z.
Young Jedi Knights - Romance/Action
Yeah, George owns everything Star Wars, but I own my characters - Chi, L'aysa, Tracer, Rooql, etc.
Finally, the conclusion to my trilogy! Thanks to you folks, one and all who either read or reviewed this story arc. Here's the last part, finally. Enjoy!
After the attack on the smuggler base, the students return to Yavin 4 and resume their studies. But while they were away, Jacen, Jaina, and the others were on Kashyyyk, and they learned of the impending assault on the Jedi academy by the Shadow Academy. All the Jedi must defend against the threat, or perish, and many do, on that fateful day.
Chi sat on the hard stone bench outside of the great temple, where he had sat so many times before, relaxing after a run through the jungle. Things had returned to normal, for the most part, after the attack on the smuggling ring which had killed Rooql's family. Revenge, Master Skywalker had always taught, was of the Dark Side, but to avenge the deaths of a friend's family just didn't sound much like revenge in Chi's mind. Oh well. Some things just have to be done, he mused.
Rising from the bench, thick beads of sweat dripped from his matted, damp hair. He shook his head violently several times and sweat flew in all directions, pasting a surprised Jaina Solo with dampness. "Damn!" she exclaimed loudly, wiping her face with a sleeve.
Chi turned and tried his darndest to suppress a laugh. Only partially successful, he addressed her. "Heh-he, oops. Sorry, Jaina."
"Who are you?" she asked. Obviously she didn't recognize him from a few months ago. He didn't blame her; he wasn't the most remarkable person in the galaxy.
"Oh. I'm Gabriel Tenzner. Chi."
She nodded in remembrance. "Oh, right. What's been going on? You and your friends haven't been around much lately. Why's that?"
Always inquisitive, thought Chi. "Long story. You haven't been around much yourself. Care to enlighten me anytime soon?"
She laughed sarcastically. "You first."
He shrugged resignedly. "Sure, whatever. Anyway, here's what happened. I have a friend. He's a Gand, see, Rooql."
She nodded impatiently, as if to say "hurry up and cut to the chase." "Yeah, yeah, I know." she said, a tone of dread touching her normally level voice.
Chi looked up, shaking the whirl of thoughts from inside his head. "What? Something wrong?"
She bowed her head. "Yeah. Yes, there is something wrong. Very wrong. Only Jacen, Tenel Ka, Lowie, and myself know. And Master Skywalker. It's bad. You're going to hear about it one way or another, so I suppose that this is as good a time as any for you to hear it."
"I'm all ears." said Chi attentively.
She heaved a short sigh and began. "Well, we have, or had, a friend, named Zekk. I'm not really sure if he's my friend or not anymore." she cleared the emotion from her voice and wiped a tiny tear from her eye. "Right, right. Well, have you heard anything about the Shadow Academy?"
Chi's head lifted at the mention of the name. "Well. . . let me see. Oh, right. Just a rumor, I thought."
"Oh no," said Jaina, gloom in her voice. "It's very real. And they're planning an attack on the academy. Led by Zekk. He warned me while we were on Kashyyyk. He told me to go and save myself; to abandon my friends and the academy. I didn't listen. So I'm here. . ."
She was about to continue as a breathless Raynar rounded the corner. "Hey you. Master Skywalker's called an assembly about something or other. Says it's urgent. Hurry up."
Jaina and Chi rolled their eyes in unison at Raynar's blunt rudeness. Their disgusted expressions sank into dread; they knew what was coming, for sure.
- - - -
Master Skywalker paced the length of the great assembly hall, trouble on his face and more so in his mind. All of the students, even the newest arrivals, could sense his brooding dread. And when a Jedi Master felt such dread, it was in most cases an awful omen of things to come.
As the last few Jedi students filed in through the large doors of the assembly room, Master Skywalker quit his pacing and turned to face the crowd, standing in the center of the stage. "It seems that we have a problem on our hands; something that can't simply be solved with a little bit of Force energy."
All the students sat riveted by his grim words. Some expressions were of dread, of fear. But some were of determination, of stoicism, the will to never give up and triumph in the face of staggering odds. He continued. "I've received word that my former student Brakiss's Dark Jedi facility, the Shadow Academy, is preparing to attack Yavin 4."
Hushed whispers, murmurs went up from the assembled crowd. Chi sat back in his seat next to Jaina, considering those words. Dark Jedi. This would be no easy feat to achieve; Dark Jedi would certainly not yield to anyone or anything. Chi spotted Tracer and Rooql sitting closer to the front of the hall. There was no expression visible on Rooql's face between the viewholes of his ammonia helmet, but Tracer certainly appeared fearful.
Chi glanced over the room again and caught a glimpse of L'aysa. She sat next to Cassandra. Chi suppressed a gentle chuckle as he thought about what had gone on with that whole fiasco. L'aysa didn't appear to be the least bit afraid; instead, she appeared ready, focused to take on whatever Dark Jedi attacks might come. Master Skywalker concluded his crash course briefing and dispatched the students to prepare for the impending attack.
- - - -
Chi walked hurriedly back to his quarters and quickly opened the door. Quickly stripping out of his exercise clothes, he slipped on a pair of black trousers and a white shirt. He grabbed his newly constructed lightsaber from the table next to his mattress and clipped it hastily to his belt. He straightened his shirt and took a deep breath, calming his nervousness with some Force meditation. He walked out the door, only to bump into L'aysa. "Oh, hello."
"Hi, Chi." she said, her tone hushed and somewhat resigned.
Chi took her in for a moment before he replied. She wore a pair of black trousers, much the same as his. She also wore a black flight jacket, open in the front. He lightsaber was clipped to one of the many loops that adorned her pants. She looked ready for a fight; but at the same time, she appeared fearful, scared. He couldn't hardly blame her. "It's all right. We'll survive. No matter what."
"I'm scared, Chi." she said, her voice trembling a bit as she embraced him.
He returned her embrace and said nothing for a moment. She suddenly pulled him into a deep kiss; their lips locked for many minutes, until finally they broke away. She spoke. "For luck. If we don't meet again."
"Don't say that."
She shrugged and turned, walking down the corridor, disappearing into the turbolift. Chi's attention was diverted for a minute as a rumble sounded from the sky. Indubitably, it was the Shadow Academy, preparing to launch its offensive against the Jedi. Chi buckled down and ran towards the turbolift, psyching himself up for the coming battle. And he would not be defeated easily. There would be no try.
- - - -
Chi stood on the landing tarmac outside of the great temple, upon which he had watched the skies many a time before that day. Tracer came to his side and matched his gaze, heads turned upwards to the sky. A shadow appeared in the sky above the academy, steadily casting a blanket of darkness over the grounds of the Jedi training facility. "So, Chi, what do you think."
Chi didn't respond for a few moments, fixing his stare on the black piece of evil that was progressing steadily through the atmosphere of the jungle moon. "I don't know."
Tracer just nodded and returned his gaze to the sky, where two dozen smaller black dots were descending rapidly through the sky. "Here they come."
"Yeah." responded Chi softly. "C'mon. We'd better get ready."
- - - -
Chi crouched behind a tangle of fallen limbs and twisted tree roots, drawing his lightsaber from his belt clip. The small metal cylinder was not cool, as so often described, but was warm from body heat and equally wet from Chi's sweat. The weapon suddenly felt like a piece of lead as a dull roar filled his ears. He looked up to see a lone black-clad figure descending at a furious pace on the dull orange flame of a rocket back. Chi hunched down under the tangle of roots and kept his gaze upward, as the Dark Jedi continued down.
- - - -
L'aysa poked her head above the thick carpet of jungle foliage to spot the location of one of the many flying fortresses that had been deployed to support the Dark Jedi assault on the academy. The flying platform had a rather large crew compliment; at least a dozen white-clad stormtroopers, a few assorted officers in dated, Imperial looking uniforms, as well as a woman, with flaming red hair and a commanding presence. She was one of the Nightsisters, thought L'aysa. The evil Force "witches" from Tenel Ka's home planet of Dathomir.
L'aysa gauged that she was perhaps thirty meters from the ground, but that really didn't concern her, or rattle her nerves, at any rate. She had never been afraid of heights; on Bothuwai, her family had lived in a miles-high tower that jutted into the atmosphere of her homeworld.
The floating fortress had two levels. The top deck looked like the only occupied area. The stormtroopers ringed the edge of the floating platform's upper deck, but they appeared inattentive, lax. They must not have much concern for their own safety, thought L'aysa sardonically. She ducked her head back below the canopy and removed a section of fibercord from her thigh pocket. She strung the rope to the next tree, and cuffed her hands inside the sleeves of her jumpsuit to protect her hands from the cord which would scorch her hands otherwise.
She took a deep breath, and let her feet slip off of the thick branch she had been perched upon. She opened her eyes just as she reached the next tree. Success! She landed on another thick branch, at least thirty meters closer to the lumbering Dark Jedi assault platform. It was barely moving, and the stormtroopers on board were now perched behind various protrusions and shields to protect themselves as they rained fire down upon what they thought were the enemy. L'aysa decided that it was an opportune time to teach them a lesson in humility.
Swinging one tree closer to the fortress, she scanned the ground with the Force and came up with a suitable candidate for her task. Grasping the tree trunk firmly in one hand and stretching toward the ground with the other, she closed her eyes and pulled with the Force. Suddenly, the small rock climbed quickly from the ground and smacked roughly into her hand, the fur of which was dark with bark dust from the ancient trees. She blinked the momentary stinging of the rock away and focused on the task at hand. She closed her eyes, picturing the rock floating above her hand, and sure enough, the stone levitated above her hand. She deepened her concentration and flung the stone as hard as she could with the Force.
She opened her eyes, just in time to see, as well as hear, the results of her throw. "Ahhhhhh!"
The stormtrooper had not been hit with the projectile, but it had knocked his rifle out of his hands with such force that it had caused his to lose his balance. Hr teetered precariously on the edge of the platform, and then fell into the foliage below with a series of sharp cracks and thumps. L'aysa smiled thinly. One down, only nineteen more to go. Of course, it would be easier to take down the whole monstrosity at once, she mused. Well, she would figure that out when she came to it. Gritting her teeth and shaking the pain from her temples, she slowly advanced through the trees until she was almost directly beneath the platform. Now the real work begins, she thought.
- - - -
Variss grinned evilly as his rocket pack carried him ever closer to the surface of Yavin 4, the moon housing the despicable trainees of the light side of the Force. The Shadow Academy had prepared him for this day ever since he had been brought there.
He had grown up on the streets of Corellia, scrapping parked speeders for credits and bootlegging strong liquor on the side for a profit. But those criminal activities were pathetic memories of a bygone era, he told himself. The real break in his life had been when a handsome but dark looking man and an evil looking woman had been walking briskly down the avenue on Corellia where he happened to be running his scrap shop that week.
He had always been good at finding and repairing things but had always considered that skill and the result of experience. But the two people he had seen, looking very out of place on a street on vices and crime, would tell him something much different; something much more.
He had been approached by the two, who obviously detected a great aura of Force power around him, already simmering with negative, dark energy. At fourteen, he had carved a decent living from the sizable amount of credits that he had been able to accumulate over many years of scrap running and liquor production. The man and woman had offered him a spot in the Shadow Academy, where his abilities and potential would be explored to the fullest. And he had never looked back. It was all going to pay off very soon.
After two, no, almost three years of extensive training at the Shadow Academy, he was ready. More than ready. He had been waiting for this moment since the beginning of his training. He wanted a fight. And there, at the base of his landing column, lie a Light Jedi, waiting. Variss grinned again and suppressed a vile laugh. Someone to fight already. It would be a good day.
- - - -
Chi stood as the black robed figure hit the ground in a puff of dust, dirt, and rocket fumes. He ignited his own lightsaber and watched briefly as the blade ignited. A shaft of deep blue extended quickly from the handle until it reached its full length. He considered what he had used for components; a melted down antique blaster pistol comprised the handle, and a gemstone from a ring he had owned refracted the energy of the weapon. He now stood ready, waiting for his Dark opponent.
The Dark Jedi stood veiled in a cloak of black. He in turn ignited his lightsaber. It glowed almost black, pulsing evilly, as if reflecting the intentions of its bearer. Chi and Variss, the Dark Jedi, circled each other for a moment, trading vicious looks and faking jousts. The silence was broken as Variss yelled. "Death to Jedi!"
"Never!" retorted Chi defiantly as he caught the heel of Variss's oncoming boot square in the chest. He tumbled to the ground and rolled backwards, coming up on one knee. Standing, he returned to his ready position, waiting for the right time to make a move.
Variss's face contorted into a sneer of disgust. "So, the vaunted Light Jedi can't even stop a kick from the Dark Side. Pity. I'm going to enjoy killing you."
Chi remained focused. Then a plan came to him. It was a real shot in the dark, he told himself. He didn't expect it to work, but there was always a chance. . .
As Variss and Chi stood opposite of each other, Chi put his little idea in motion. It was simple. He looked beyond Variss shoulder, saying a quick prayer for luck. Sure enough, as soon as he caught Chi glancing past his shoulder, Variss turned quickly, and that was all Chi needed. He picked up a rock, and, without the Force, zinged it with all his might.
The stone hit Variss solidly in the thigh. "Arrgghh!" he yelled, momentarily grasping the injured leg in surprise, then looking up to face Chi, malice in his eyes.
That little interlude was all that Chi needed to make his big move. He leaped forward with all of his strength and planted a hard kick to the chest of Variss. Variss didn't fall, put brought his lightsaber up to parry Chi's sudden slash. The two energy weapons buzzed and grinded for a few moments as the two combatants struggled to gain an advantage. Strain was evident on their faces as they locked horns. Chi broke the deadlock as he deftly swung out a leg, knocking Variss off balance momentarily. Chi lost his own balance in the process and hit the ground in a cloud of dirt and twigs. Attempting to push himself up, he was pushed back down into the ground by a boot. A black, weighty boot. Belonging to a particularly angry and vicious Dark Jedi.
- - - -
L'aysa surveyed the bottom of the flying fortress from where she stood at the top of one of the tallest trees in the jungle. She took in a deep breath, drawing on all of her Force skills to keep her fatigue and anxiety in check. Shaking her head to clear it, she withdrew her fibercord rope, with a small grappling hook affixed to its end, from her belt and aimed upward at the edge of the fortress, hoping to latch onto a turret or other solid piece of hardware. Using the Force to guide her throw, she heaved the rope upward.
She was satisfied to hear the rope catch on something metallic, and then pull taut. Gratified, she gripped the rope tightly, and used the Force to boost her strength as she carefully and methodically ascended the fibercord. She paused in mid-climb, and looked down, towards the treetops. It was exhilarating to be so high up. But there were more important things to be done. Before she began to climb again, she looked to the great temple, and was horrified to see several TIE Fighters making strafing runs on the ancient building. It was only a matter of time before it buckled under their assault. In the jungle below, she could hear the sounds of struggles, of pain, of death. Gritting her teeth, she buckled down and completed her ascension to the Dark Jedi platform.
She reached the unguarded lower deck with ease, albeit with a loud thump. Wincing, she silently hoped that no one had heard her noisy entrance. She wound up the fibercord and neatly tucked it back into the pouch on her jumpsuit that she had taken it from. Sitting against one of the battlements mounted along the sides of the deck, she caught her breath, and withdrew her lightsaber. She thumbed the ignition switch and watched as the blade of light energy extended from the black metal handle she had fashioned from the blackened remains of a Rebel computer core used during the Battle of Yavin, more than twenty years before. The blade itself was a silvery-white, humming and pulsing rhythmically as she watched it for a moment.
Her musing upon the origin of her lightsaber was interrupted as she heard voices coming from the deck above, which was only two meters above her, accessible by a hatchway and ladder. "I though I heard something." said one stormtrooper, addressing one of his colleagues.
"I didn't hear nothin'." responded his partner, obviously annoyed by his current assignment: hunting Jedi in their natural habitat.
"I'm gonna check it out." the other replied.
"Whatever. I'll go with you, I guess."
L'aysa tensed. Crouching behind a computer console near the ladder, she ignited her lightsaber and ducked down. The hatch in front and above her began to twist open. The plate of metal swung down, disgorging two white-armored troops, climbing down the ladder with some difficulty, their armor hampering their movements. "Well, you're an idiot. I don't see anything."
"Shut up. I could have sworn that I heard a big clunk or something, like someone threw a big rock onto this deck. Keep looking."
"Whatever."
L'aysa smiled, almost laughing at their ineptitude. As the two stormtroopers walked away from her place of hiding, she sprang up and caught the first troop soundly on the back of the head with a booted foot. He fell to the deck with a sickening crash. The other, stunned but regaining his wits, armed his blaster. He fired, discharging a blue stun ring towards her.
She ducked, and the bolt passed her by. But she failed to notice the other stormtroopers pouring through the hatch. In a flurry of blue stun beams and shouting, she fell to the deck, and then everything went black.
- - - -
For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, Variss and Chi circled, breathing heavily, injured. Variss was bleeding profusely from the gouge that Chi's stone projectile had inflicted. He also had a large cut on his forehead, one that would scar permanently if not treated soon.
Chi also had a cut on his face, on his left cheek, inflicted by a sharp branch hurled by Variss that had only grazed his cheek, not impaled his head as the thrower had intented. Both combatants were showing fatigue. They had fought for almost half an hour; no open-shut fight it was.
Chi broke the silence and charged at Variss. Instead of a slash, Chi slid, knocking Variss off balance. That moment was all Chi needed. From his slide on the ground, he slid to halt and slashed with his lightsaber. He closed his eyes as he heard the searing hiss of flesh and the stink of ozone filled his nostrils. He had caught Variss in the stomach, and as he stood to observer his handiwork, Variss doubled over in a pool of black blood, clutching his bisected stomach. Chi instinctively thumbed the deactivate button on his saber, but left in on when he heard something advancing on him from the part of the forest furthest from the temple. "Chi!"
It was Tracer, wearing his usual black jumpsuit, albeit with it virtually in tatters. He had several cuts and bruises all over, but he was in good shape, all around. "Tracer! You all right?"
"Yeah. Looks like you're not so good."
Chi gingerly ran his finger over the huge gash that was now bleeding freely over his face and clothes. ""I've been better. But this guy's a goner." Chi pointed to the figure of Variss, who was curled in a fetal position in a thick pool of blackish blood.
Tracer grimaced. "Yeah. Dark Jedi?"
Chi nodded. "Wait. Tracer, where've you been all this time?"
Tracer smiled and nodded, as if about to divulge a great secret. "Actually, I've been up to quite a bit. I found out where they've been landing the dropships that deploy those flying fortresses and stormtroopers. They're in a clearing a couple of klicks that way."
"Really?" was all Chi could say.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I've got an idea of how we can deal with these bastards. You in, or do you want to duel with Dark Jedi the whole day?"
"I'm in."
Tracer grinned. "I knew you would be. Let's go."
- - - -
Cassandra and Rooql were in a tough spot, to say the least. Backed up against each other, the two Jedi were ringed by several stormtroopers, shooting to kill, not bothering to take prisoners. They were holding their own, deflecting the bolts back at the attackers, but it would be too little, too late. Almost desperate, the two mentally exchanged escape ideas. Cassandra had one. What if we project a shield out far enough to knock these guys out?
Rooql does not know that Force technique.
Fine. Just focus all your energy on me.
Rooql did just that, and Cassie closed her eyes, concentrating deeply. She stretched out with the Force, and the advancing stormtroopers were taken completely by surprise when a nova of Force energy came rushing their way, hurling them off of the ground and into trees. The sound of armor smashing against trees and the ground was for an instant a cacophony, and the next their was almost absolute silence. "Rooql congratulates you. It was a good plan."
"Thank you, Rooql. I couldn't have done that without your Force strength boosting mine. We need to get back the hangar. I have an idea."
Rooql just nodded, and the two ran back towards the academy at full speed, intent on carrying out whatever plan Cassie had in mind.
- - - -
L'aysa opened her eyes and it felt like a bomb had exploded within her mind. Her head must have hit the deck damn hard when the stormtroopers stunned her. Not daring to move, she looked around the room where she was. It appeared to be a tiny cell of sorts. She definitely wasn't on Yavin anymore. Suddenly, a chilling realization washed over her. It was the Shadow Academy. That's where she was.
They had, of course, taken her lightsaber, but they were in such a hurry to total the Jedi academy that they hadn't taken anything from her other pockets. She reached into her thigh pocket, feeling the comfortable cord of her trust rope. She looked up, momentarily. A grate? No, they wouldn't let prisoners, much less Jedi, have such an easy escape route. It must be booby-trapped, she thought.
Her plans of escape were interrupted as she heard footsteps stop outside of her door. She hastily stowed the rope in her pocket and slouched down against the wall. The door opened to reveal a woman, clad entirely in black, bearing a black handled lightsaber. With an evil sneer, she addressed L'aysa. "Come with me, Jedi."
L'aysa didn't give her the satisfaction of a response. Feigning weakness, she struggled to her feet and walked gingerly to the door. This is a pretty bad put-on I'm doing, but that Dark Jedi doesn't notice. Or care. Either way it's fine with me. The Dark Jedi woman slammed the door close button with a black, fingerless gloved hand, and the heavy durasteel door rolled shut.
L'aysa followed the woman down the corridor. She hadn't even realized it, but the Dark Jedi had teleported a pair of strong binders onto her wrists and was pulling her along via the Force. L'aysa kept up her demure captive routine, knowing that in the confusion of the battle, she would be able to do something about it. As they passed door after door, L'aysa discretely reached out with the Force, sensing what was behind each door. She found a likely candidate, and began to bide her time. That was all she could do. For now.
- - - -
Chi and Tracer felt it before they got to it. It was a huge dropship, accompanied by a host of smaller ground assault vehicles, used by the Shadow Academy to land troops and vehicles on Yavin 4. Before they could formulate any sort of plan, a tremendous boom rocked the ground. Chi and Tracer winced knowingly. The great temple had just suffered a catastrophic blow and was crumbling under the stress. "Tracer, we gotta do something."
"My thoughts exactly."
The two Jedi surveyed the huge dropship and its host of smaller support craft, trying to come up with an idea of how to cripple the Dark Jedi ground assault. If they could destroy this dropship, they would destroy the nerve center of the mechanized assault and would save many lives, they were sure. "Wait. Tracer, I've got an idea."
Tracer listened intently. "Yeah?"
"Okay. Do you think that any of those ships are outfitted with autopilot?"
Tracer nodded casually. "Oh yeah. All dropships and ground attack vessels usually have it as a standard feature. These babies are probably no different."
Chi smiled, wringing his hands. "Good. Alright. This may sound way out there to you, but I need to get one those vehicles to get on autopilot, pull up into the sky, and hurl back down, square into the big dropship."
Tracer smiled and chuckled. "Yeah, it is way out there. But it's a pretty damn good idea, if you ask me. Let's do it. Okay, what part do you want?"
"I'll activate the autopilot on that dropship closest to us. I'll need about five or six minutes to hotwire it and everything. Can you cover me?"
Tracer nodded. "Yeah. I think I can project a good enough Force illusion over us for that time. But once you're clear, run like hell. If you don't see me, just break for the temple."
Chi nodded grimly as he cracked his knuckles. "Yeah. Let's do it."
- - - -
Cassie was the first into her ship, the Red Storm, back in the nearly destroyed hangar at the academy. Rooql bolted into the ship as fast as his short legs would carry him. Cassie flung herself around the corridor and plunked down in the pilot's chair, running the preflight routine with expert speed. Rooql stood in the passenger cabin, waiting for some direction. "Rooql, take the ventral gun turret."
That was the only gun turret she had, but it would be better than nothing. "Rooql will do as you say." the Gand found the ladder down to the gunwell and booted up the targeting computer with precision. "Rooql is ready for battle. Leave when you are ready."
Cassie smiled and threw the ship into full throttle. The Red Storm shot out of the hangar just as it crumbled under the brunt of a TIE Bomber assault. The great stone building toppled with earthquake force, just as Cassie and Rooql shot out in the Red Storm. Cassie pulled hard up towards one of the many flights of TIE Bombers. As good as they were for assault, they had barely any defense against other fighters or ships. She banked left and came up on top of the TIEs. She was about to tell Rooql to fire, but she was surprised when he fired, igniting the engines of one and punching a gaping hole in the solar panel of another. "Good shooting, Rooql."
"Thank you, Cassandra."
She banked and rolled as the remaining bombers broke formation and went into evasive maneuvers. Flying straight for a brief moment, she glanced down long enough the see one of the crippled TIEs plow into one of the flying fortresses, sending a shower of molten debris skyward. The Red Storm rocked as it hit the sonic shockwave of the explosion. Gritting her teeth and using the Force to focus, she banked the ship to get a shot at another TIE Bomber. An instant before her computer got a targeting lock, Rooql loosed a blast of yellow energy and disintegrated the right cockpit of the bomber. The disconnected solar panels tumbled into the jungle, each impacting into the ground with a tremendous puff of dirt and foliage. She geared the ship for more power and raced around a loop, coming up directly behind the remaining two bombers. She felt rooql lining up for a shot, but stopped him. "Rooql, wait. I've got a better idea."
He didn't fire. She engaged the one concussion missile stored on board, and targeted it to first plow through the first TIE, and then explode in the engine compartment of the second TIE. Using the Force for guidance, she launched the missile. A streak of red blew away from her ship towards the first TIE. As per her guidance, it made a hole directly through the cockpit of the first TIE. It dipped slightly in altitude, then began a fast spiral down, where it would meet its demise. The missile streaked on to its second target.
The missile reached its final destination, and exploded. The TIE, caught by the explosion, rocked forward and frantically bucked side to side as the pilot struggled to control it. Rooql sent a laser burst into the flying wreck, igniting it. The TIE exploded, rocking the Red Storm and showering the ground with debris. "Nice shooting back there, Rooql. You're a good gunner."
"Thank you. Rooql believes that you are a very good pilot."
"Why thank you."
Cassie, satisfied that they had done their part to defend from the air assault, decided that it was time to go after the flying fortresses. Banking hard around, she dived until she skimmed the treetops. Ahead was one of the flying platforms. "Rooql, here's something for you. Get ready."
- - - -
L'aysa, sensing her opportunity, palm-heeled the Dark Jedi woman in the back of the head. As the woman fell, L'aysa grabbed her dark lightsaber. Stormtroopers opened fire, and L'aysa was able to activate the blade just in time to mow down the troops with their own assault. Without delay, she bolted back down the corridor she had come from.
Coming to the hangar door, she frantically punched in codes to open the door, but nothing would work. Frustrated, she slashed the panel with the procured lightsaber. To her amazement, the door slid open, and she stepped quickly into the hangar.
Yes, it was the hangar. Her Force sense had told her that, and it hadn't let her down. She quickly sealed the door behind her, just as a half dozen white armored troops rounded the bend and opened fire. Their blaster bolts splattered harmlessly against the durasteel of the door. Even so, she could hear the distinctive whine and sizzle of a cutter rifle being used on the damaged door. There was no time to lose.
She dashed to the closest ship in the hangar, which happened to be a battered old Imperial model transport shuttle. It was small, blackened, and damaged, but it would serve a purpose is she could get it working.
Sparks of molten orange metal splattered onto the duracrete floor as the stormtroopers cut deeper into the door. Now or never. She found the hatch of the shuttle to be unlocked; a good omen. She slammed the hatch shut and threw herself headlong into the cockpit. She sat up in the lone pilot's chair and flipped the switches that would ostensibly activate the ship's engines and carry her out of there. She looked up. There was one factor she hadn't even taken into consideration until now. Were the shield doors open? If they weren't, she would be overwhelmed by stormtroopers. If theu were, she was home free. She opened her eyes. Yes, they were open! Probably left open from all the TIEs going down to the moon, she thought.
The whole station rocked, and she could see ships exchanging barrages of laser fire at each other and the Shadow Academy. She powered the engines to full power and tore out of the hangar, just as the stormtroopers fired an antiaircraft rocket in her direction. She wasn't paying any attention to the threat detector until it was too late. The missile slammed into her right engine, causing the old ship to list to the right and lose power. Helplessly, she began an uncontrollable descent to the surface of Yavin 4. So this was it; this was the end. There was going to be no escaping her falling prison. Unless. . .
She began to formulate a plan, one that was desperate. . . but it could be done. She threw a glance out of the back viewport and saw the Shadow Academy split into pieces, and the bay where she was not a minute before was consumed by flames. She felt a little better knowing that the Shadow Academy was destroyed. But she could feel the battle still going on at the surface. Chi. She reached out with the Force, trying to find him. Yes, there he was, with Tracer, she could feel. They were not in battle, but were up to something. She smiled. Chi was always useful.
- - - -
Sweat dripped down Chi's face as he desperately toyed with the wires under the autopilot control panel. It had been five minutes, and Tracer was not going to be able to keep the illusion going for much longer. Here goes. Chi connected the final two wires and prayed. It worked! The engines of the ship rumbled as it took off. Chi dived from the cockpit and scrambled into the forest, followed by Tracer. The two dove into a tangle of bushes and trees, cloaking themselves with the Force.
Stormtroopers and officers that had been guarding the drop zone were in chaos. They fired madly into the jungle around the and hit their own, killing many and wounding others.
Chi counted down. Ten. Nine. . . as he counted to himself, he crossed his fingers, praying that he had wired the coordinates in the autopilot computer correctly. Two. . . one . . .
KA-BOOOOOOOOOM! The explosion rocked the very ground on which the two Jedi stood, and deafened them. But that was minor compared the damage inflicted to the attacking forces. The huge dropship had taken the impact of the small support ship head on, and had been disintegrated. Corpses of stormtroopers littered the area, and small fires raged, coming from the charred hunks of speeders and transports. "C'mon, Tracer, we'd better get back to the temple."
- - - -
Cassandra looked down into the blackened clearing from her vantage point, high in the sky. It appeared that someone had planted an explosive device in the clearing and had blown a dozen vehicles to hell. But scanning closer with the Force, she felt Chi and Tracer racing from the site, intent on reaching the remains of the great temple. Focusing, she called them with the Force, telling them to come back to the clearing.
No answer. She shrugged and put down the landing gear of the Red Storm. Rooql had climbed out of the gunwell and was now observing from the cockpit as Cassie put the ship down in the midst of the flames and scorched ground. She muttered out loud, "Someone must've got their hands on some big explosives for this."
Rooql nodded and stood by as Cassie landed the ship and extended the boarding ramp. The two hurried down, and found Tracer and Chi, scarred, bloody, and beaten, but alive. Tracer had sustained a massive laceration to his leg, extending from his kneecap to his foot, among other awful wounds. Cassie and Rooql helped the two up the ship's ramp and laid them in the passenger cabin. "Rooql, get us back to the temple. I've got to take care of these two."
She grabbed a field medkit from a wall mount in the cabin and removed a bacta wrap. She wrapped Tracer's injured leg in it and teased him as she did. "You boys, always getting into such trouble. What happened this time? You two blow up those ships all by yourselves?"
Chi laughed, and coughed up some blood at the same time. "Yep. Programmed a transport to ram into the big ship there. Took the whole damn crew out with it, looks like."
She laughed. "Yeah. I'd say so." she paused as she examined the cut on his face. "You don't look too good yourself. Here." she placed a bacta patch on his face, and he could feel the pain drain away as the miracle medicine began to soak in beneath his skin.
- - - -
L'aysa gave on last desperate heave to try to get the crippled transport's engines to restart, but the thing was fused. She had no choice but to jump ship. But how? Ah, there. She saw a lone rocket pack mounted on a wall bracket. It was going to be a close jump, but if she wanted to live, what was a life-threatening risk? She ripped the pack from the wall mount and strapped it on. She was well into the stratosphere of Yavin 4 now. She would have to abandon ship in minutes. She smiled. If this piece of junk was going to crash, she might as well make it do something useful.
She looked quickly at the sensor display, and there it was. A floating fortress, perhaps even the same one that had captured her in the first place. She set the autopilot to fly the spiraling ship to that point, where it would undoubtedly destroy the Dark Jedi platform. She set the final coordinates in and threw open the ship's hatch. The wind rushed past, blowing her fur in every direction. Drawing on all of her Force strength and then taking a deep breath to maintain her calm, she jumped.
- - - -
Chi sat up in one of the two chairs in the passenger compartment of the Red Storm. His face was bandaged, his leg was in a splint, and his arm was in a sling. Tracer hadn't fared much better. His whole right leg was in a bacta wrap, his head was in a bandage, and his torso was wrapped in bandages. Other than that, though, the two Jedi felt just fine. "Good idea, Chi. Worked a little too well, if you ask me."
"Shut up."
Tracer laughed as Chi frowned and then chuckled. "Hey, we're almost back to the academy." called Cassie from the cockpit.
Or what was left of it, at any rate. The great temple that had housed the great hall and the student quarters had been leveled by a TIE Bomber run and was now little more a smoldering pile of charred and blackened rubble. The tarmac of the landing field looked even blacker than usual. Dozens of students were standing out on the blacktop of the landing pad, gazing luridly at the rubble. The carnage was over, but the damage had been inflicted. Cleanup would be a long, arduous process. But the Jedi would survive. They had to.
- - - -
L'aysa loved the feel of the wind blowing in her face as she descended slowly above the treetops, courtesy of her newly procured rocket pack. She closed her eyes and let the Force guide her down to the remains of the great temple. Her concentration was shaken as a great noise filled her ears. She opened her eyes to see the ship she had commandeered plow down onto the final floating fortress. The ship exploded in a great fireball and the platform split in two, spilling its occupants dozens of meters into the jungle. She smiled. She had done her part to drive back the Dark Jedi assault. Now it was time to clean up.
- - - -
Chi, healing from his wounds, sat at the base of one of the few trees left near the academy. The New Republic had dispatched several repair and medical vessels to the academy, and he had been among the first to receive treatment. Now he waited for one thing. Where was L'aysa? She couldn't have been killed in that huge explosion fifteen minutes earlier, could she? His head sank. If she did. . .
"Miss me?"
Chi looked up and smiled. There she was, looking as good as ever, if a little fatigued and tired. She sat next to Chi and ran a finger down the healing scar on his face. "You don't look too good."
"I don't feel too good. But you know what looks really good?"
She laughed. "What?"
"You."
He rolled over to her, and despite the protest of his wrapped leg, he kissed her, drawing her close for an eternity. He pulled back. "What was that for?"
"We lived, didn't we? I think that's reason enough."
She smiled and closed her eyes as they kissed again, deep into the night, ignoring the calls of search parties and concerned friends. They could wait; Chi and L'aysa had all the time in the galaxy.