It was a battlefield. Yuuzhan Vong squared off against Jedi, and for the moment, the numbers on each side were fairly equal. But Anakin knew that would not last long. The longer the group remained where they were, the more likely they were to be surrounded by more Vong then even they could handle.
He finished off the warrior in front of him and then dropped and rolled to the side to avoid getting sliced in half by the warrior coming up behind him.
He was angry with himself for not having sensed – or more accurately not having sensed – the Yuuzhan Vong surrounding them. They should have picked up on the voids through the force and made got a move on long before they showed up.
Rather dangerously, he kept his attention split between battling warriors and monitoring Tahiri's condition. He had spotted her hidden behind a group of tree trunks, whether she had done it of her own free will or she simply was in no shape to move, he had no idea. Her condition was rapidly deteriorating. That much he was certain of. As much as it pained him, he knew what he needed to do.
He was halfway to her when a healthy, young warrior landed behind him. It was the dull thud behind Anakin that allowed him to anticipate the attack before it was too late. Without hesitation, the alien reared back its amphistaff and heaved it aggressively at him, fully intending to shatter Anakin's backbone. Anakin would have none of that. He propelled himself over the warrior, striking out with his deadly blade the moment his feet hit the hard earth.
The warrior was fast, and was not as easily caught off balance as Anakin would have liked. On instinct, the creature dropped to one knee, causing Anakin's blade to miss high and wide. Anakin recovered quickly enough, however, catching the amphistaff in his blade as it was thrusted towards his exposed neck.
Anakin tried to keep his movements quick and precise, but he was allowing the warrior to drive him back. His movements quickly changed to the defensive, making it look like the warrior was getting the better of him. Anakin continued to let the warrior think that, hoping it believe he was getting tired and his defenses were in danger of collapsing. The warrior drove him back with thrust after thrust, until Anakin let himself fall onto his back and summoned the force to use the low hanging tree branch on the tree just behind him, to smack the alien right across it's unprotected face.
Even a Yuuzhan Vong was not immune to such force, and it staggered forward – right onto Anakin's waiting lightsaber that slashed its knees out from under him.
Anakin didn't care that despite the injuries he had inflicted upon the alien, it was still alive. At least now it was in no position to stop Anakin from sprinting away to where Tahiri was.
He dropped to his knees in front of her. She was sweating profusely and she was staring at him with a blank expression that made him want to shiver.
"Tahiri, you may not like what I'm about to do, but you're going to have to trust me, okay?"
She nodded weakly and let him half carry, half drag her to the spot where Jacen and Ha'rnn were holding their own over the continuous bombardment of thud bugs being hurled in their direction.
They helped cover Anakin and Tahiri as they took shelter the dead tree trunks that had fallen over in such a way they acted as a sort of fort.
"Remember what we talked about before?" Anakin said, moving to his brother's side to deflect a thud bug with his own blade.
Jacen looked back at Tahiri who had her eyes closed and didn't respond.
"What's going on?" Jaina asked breathlessly as she joined them.
"Jacen and Ha'rnn are taking Tahiri to the compound,"
Tahiri's eyes snapped open in horror. "You can't stay here,"
"And we can't follow you either. Tahiri, we'll lead them straight to the compound and throw ourselves right into a bigger ambush. We'll hold them off here as long as we can and then lead them in the opposite direction for a bit, while you and Jacen head for the compound,"
"You have to go now," Anakin told them, but he was looking at Tahiri while he said it. "We'll follow as soon as it's safe. I promise,"
He watched Tahiri reluctantly follow Ha'rnn into the depths of Belkdan's foliage. Anakin wished he could have opened his mind up to her then, to let her know how difficult a decision this was for him, but he knew full well the consequences that would result because of it.
Jacen was the last to leave, but Anakin grabbed his arm to hold him back for a minute. Neither said anything, but the look that passed between them was missing the usual resentment and anger from recent weeks. Instead, Anakin's eyes were burning with trust and hope, as he put Tahiri's very survival in Jacen's hands.
Jacen nodded silently, letting his brother know he understood his unspoken words, and followed after Tahiri and Ha'rnn.
Now we give them the time they need, Anakin thought as he watched Jacen disappear behind what was left of Belkdan's foliage. He nodded to his sister, and together they rejoined the battle.
We're running out of time, Jacen thought frantically, as Tahiri collapsed for the third time. He didn't need a degree in medicine to know that the end was nearing for her.
He went to help her up, yet again, and that was when she lost it.
"Get away from me!" She screamed and sent Jacen flying backwards.
A pair of incredibly strong arms hauled him to his feet. He shook off Ha'rnn and approached Tahiri again. He should have been a bit more cautious, but caution was a luxury they could no longer afford.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed, falling to her knees. "I couldn't stop myself," she reached down to her side and unclipped her saber. She threw it at him and he caught it with ease. "Take it,"
"I can't," he protested. "This is your only means of defense,"
"I'm not as defenseless as I look. Besides, I don't think you really want me to have that right now. I could go all crazy-warrior on you at any second,"
Grudgingly, he agreed with her and clipped her weapon to his own belt. She would probably do more harm then good with a lightsaber the way things were going.
He tried helping her up again, but she was so shaky on her feet, she could barely stand without clutching his arms.
"Sorry, Tahiri," said Jacen, as he lifted her off the ground and scooped her up into his arms. "But we're running out of time,"
She did not protest as he carried her the rest of the way through the forest, with Ha'rnn leading the way.
They made it the rest of the way without incident. Tahiri did not suffer any more violent outbursts, though Jacen took that as a sign that she was growing weaker.
Upon reaching the compound, the trio crouched low among the plants in the fields growing coralskippers. Jacen reached into a pocket on his jacket and withdrew a pair of macrobinoculars that used night vision, allowing him to see the scene in front of him in a greenish glow. He wanted to get a look at what they were heading into. He could see clearly that the fields were empty of slaves. Not a single one was wandering about feeding the growing skips or planting new ones. He moved his line of sight upwards and got a clear view of the structure lining the area. The building they needed to get to. He couldn't fathom a guess as to what it was made out of, but it appeared to be pulsing as if it were alive. It was relatively large and was almost triangular in shape. He continued along until he found the doors, guarded by two, rigid warriors.
While there were no slaves, a quick inspection of the area showed there were plenty of Yuuzhan Vong warriors patrolling the compound. Jacen would have preferred to wait for a shift change or cause some sort of distraction, but knew they did not have time for either. Ha'rnn believed they should stop wasting time and enter the domed structure. Jacen silently agreed, and they took the path that seemed to be the least patrolled. They stealthy crossed the fields, continuing on without any run-ins from the patrolling warriors. Jacen thought the prospect of them reaching the structure unchallenged should have lessened his feeling of uneasiness, not make it rise. He was sure the others felt the same way so did voice the bad feeling he had about all this. There was no point in stating the obvious.
Ha'rnn went ahead of them and took out the two unsuspecting warriors with such ease, Jacen was ready for another fifty warriors jump out at them any second. Ha'rnn looked more suspicious then ever and Jacen didn't blame him. It was all going a little to easy in his opinion. And Jacen had learned long ago that things never went that smoothly unless purposely planned that way.
They stopped just short of the living jelly-like doors. Jacen put Tahiri down and she stood shakily, but on her own. He handed her back her weapon and closed her palm around it.
"You're going to need this in there," he said before she could protest. "Ha'rnn and I may not be able to protect you if things get rough in there,"
"You better hope I don't decide to take you out along with a couple of Vong,"
"I'll take my chances,"
Ha'rnn appeared to sniff the air and said, "this is not right," as Jacen moved for the door.
Jacen knew that already, but what choice did they have? They had already gotten this far; they might as well see it through to the end.
Jacen ignored the growing dread inside him and put his hand up against what looked like the Yuuzhan Vong equivalent of a door handle. He placed his open palm on the pulsing panel beside the door and pressed down.
"Jedi Solo, stop!"
He shoved Jacen roughly away from the panel, but the jelly structure that made up the door was already parting. Once opened, it revealed a nasty-looking bunch of twenty or so Yuuzhan Vong standing behind a small, slim woman with molting green skin. She gave the intruders a wicked grin, and without needing a verbal command, the warriors raised their amphistaffs and charged towards them.