Chapter 7

The traitor, Jake Microx, stared at the remains of what was once Veeka Lah; merely a one-armed torso still twitching in its final death throes. He had expected the young Skywalker to be good, but Veeka, as well as his brother Gokong, had been named among the top warriors of the Lah cast. Yet one of them had just been taken out like a second-class soldier!

Jake calmed himself, The fool was probably just over-confident, he thought to himself. Yes, he assured himself, that must be it.

For some reason that didn't make Jake feel any better as he watched Gokong angrily go on the offensive. If I lose this fight, even if Skywalker doesn't kill me, the Vong will. He allowed himself a small smile, Which is why I always have a contingency plan.

The hyperspace alarm blared in the forward viewing area where Denz, Jyo, Cordell, and Zeek stood, anxious to see their new home. The white of hyperspace became fine white streaks before reverting to their normal state as small points of light called stars. Straight ahead the four friends saw the lush, green world that had been donated specifically to the Jedi for their part in repelling the Yuuzhan Vong. Luke, being the "leader" of the Jedi, was chosen to give the Jedi's new home a suitable name. Luke had appropriately named the planet of the peacekeepers and protectors, Jedron or the place where all journeys begin and end.

"Wow!" Zeek breathed.

"This is the first time I've seen an actual planet!" Cordell stated, wide-eyed.

"It's the first time for all of us," Denz reminded him.

Jyo was speechless with awe.

As the four gazed upon their new home, where they would grow physically and in their Jedi abilities, they dreamed of the adventures that would take place there and those that would lead them to the far reaches of the galaxy. It was like a new beginning for them here. Here they would have the room and freedom to grow and develop into their own persons, different from one another in many ways. They saw themselves being presented with numerous decisions that they would have to make, and in the end their choices may decide if someone lives or dies, chooses the light side or falls to the seduction of the dark side.

Although the four friends knew not exactly what their new home held for them, they were certain that this planet and what happened to them on it, would change each of their individual lives forever….

Forever. That's what it feels like. Waiting for your opponent to make the next move, or waiting for the right time to make yours. Forever. It's how long the consequences of a right or wrong move last once executed. Forever is death. Death is the only unquestionable forever. Once something is dead, it's forever. Death is forever, and by the looks on the faces of the two warriors facing each other, one was about to face that absolute forever called death.

The two charged. One human, one alien. One Jedi, one warrior. Both thinking the same thought: This will decide it!

Gokong growled and thrust his amphistaff at Ben's right shoulder in an attempt to inject poison into his bloodstream. Watching his brother's executioner twitch and convulse as he died would be pure pleasure for Gokong.

Ben, however, was not about to allow him such pleasure, as he not only ducked the attack but also dodged to the left. As they continued past each other, Ben brought his lightsaber around in an upward arc across Gokong's chest armor.

Then it was over. Both combatants stopped motionless with their backs to each other. The two slowly stood up straight and turned to face the other. The only mark of damage was a long, dark streak across Gokong's armor from his left hip to his right shoulder. Ben watched as his opponent grinned, took one step forward, and fell to the ground and split in two right where the mark on his armor had been. What everyone had thought was a feeble attempt to pierce the vondum crab armor was really the deciding blow.

Kyp silently queried Ben on his tactic. He replied with a question of his own, The Vong are a void in the force, correct?

Yes, but what does that have to do with what just happened.

Simple, Ben replied, as I swung with my lightsaber, I looked at the attack through the Force instead of my eyes. It took a lot of energy and concentration, but I was able to see my weapon going through the void and coming out the other side. Thus, the result, he said gesturing at the smoldering remains of the second Vong warrior.

Kyp could tell that that move took a lot out of Ben, but he should still have no problem with Jake.

Ben sent one more thought to Kyp and Jaina that told them to get ready to use the move Jacen had discovered when trying to rescue Jaina many years ago, but had only just started teaching it to some of the older Jedi. Ben turned to Jake who was still gaping in awe at what had just happened. He glanced at Skywalker, noticed something, and looked harder. No, he wasn't seeing things. Skywalker looked tired. He was breathing heavy and looked like he was struggling to stand.

The performance Ben was putting on really seemed to be convincing Jake that he was exhausted. He had to make sure Jake believed that he could take Ben down himself and didn't just have them all slaughtered by the Vong. Ben figured Jake would be desperate to earn points with the Vong after having sent two of their best warriors to their deaths.

Jake rushed at Ben and swung wildly at him. Ben "seemed" to just barely be able to block the attack. Ben's counter was weak and easily stopped by Jake. This process continued for several minutes. On the edge of his awareness, Ben could feel the Force growing in Kyp and Jaina. He only hoped that Jake didn't notice it as well. But Jake was so thrilled about the prospect of defeating Ben that he wasn't paying attention to anything else.

What a narrow-minded Jedi, Ben thought, and then laughed silently to himself when he realized how ridiculous that sounded.

Kyp and Jaina sent a quick thought, Ready.

Ben nodded and blocked an attack from Jake. When Jake charged again, Ben gave him a quick push with the Force to knock him off balance. Jake stumbled in his headlong rush, taking his eyes off Ben. In that spit-second, Ben dashed in and struck Jake's lightsaber with such force that it flew from his hand into the air. Ben jumped after it and slashed the handle in two, shutting off the blade. The two halves of the lightsaber fell to the ground at Jake's feet. When he looked up from his broken weapon, he saw Ben standing there, defiance radiating from him.

"You played me!" Jake realized. "But for what purpose?"

Ben smiled and turned off his lightsaber, "I just needed a little time."

As if on cue, Kyp and Jaina released all of their pent up energy. A bright flash came from their bodies as Force lightning shot out in every direction toward the Yuuzhan Vong. Although the bolts looked like they hit randomly, each and every one was aimed at a specific target. Within seconds, every single Yuuzhan Vong lay writhing on the floor. The only ones left standing were Jaina, Kyp, Ben, and a very wide-eyed Jake Microx.

"You killed ALL of them!" Jake said in awe.

"No, only paralyzed them," Kyp corrected as he walked over and grabbed Jake by the collar.

"I vote that we get out of here," Jaina said as she hopped into the speeder, which was also undamaged.

"I second the motion," Ben called as he hurried over to the vehicle.

"It's unanimous, Jaina. I think even ol' Jakey Boy wants to get gone before his buddies here can move again."

"YES! Please take me with you!"

"Well, since you asked so nicely," Kyp said as he tossed Jake into the back seat of the speeder and climbed in himself.

Jaina sped back up the twisting passage that had led them to the cave of Yuuzhan Vong.

Ben turned around in his seat to look at Jake, "Do you have anything in here that goes 'boom'?" he asked.

"There's a thermal detonator in the front compartment."

"Bingo," Ben cried when he found it. He set the timing mechanism for five seconds, and as soon as he saw daylight, Ben released the trigger and tossed the detonator out into the tunnel.

They flew out of the tunnel just as the detonator exploded, causing a cave-in that reverberated all the way down to the cave deep within the mountain, crushing the still-paralyzed Yuuzhan Vong.