Chapter 12
Denz stepped cautiously into a small clearing. A clearing of any size in a forest this packed together is enough to rouse my suspicion, he thought. In fact, the trees on either side of the clearing were grown so closely together, that it would have taken him quite a while to find another passing point.
The young Jedi sensed no trap, nothing lying in wait for him in the immediate area. Whether he could sense it or not, his gut told him something wasn't right, but not wanting to waste any time, Denz took several steps forward, checking the integrity of the ground before firmly placing his foot there. He paused. Except for the squawk of a bird nestled in a nearby tree, all was quiet.
Denz was almost halfway there now as he picked up the pace and began to walk quicker. Just as he reached the midpoint, the ground fell away beneath his feet! Sensing it a mere second before it happened, Denz pushed off in a Force aided jump toward the opposite end of the clearing. He fell just short of the other side as he slammed full force into the far end of the vast pit, knocking his pack of rations open and spilling the contents into the maw. Denz scrabbled for a handhold on the dirt- and grass- covered edge. Finding a purchase, he dug in and stopped his slide into the hole. The Jedi student hung there for several moments, calming himself and catching his breath. After he had built up the energy to continue, Denz hoisted himself up and over the lip of the concealed trap.
He lay on the solid ground exhausted and panting, thankful that he didn't also lose his water canteen. Denz stood up and looked back. The clearing was nothing but one big hole now, and no bottom in sight. I'll have to take this part of the test more seriously from now on. Denz brushed the dirt and grass from his hair and clothes, which reminded him why he disliked the outdoors. He checked for any tender spots or bruises that his jump and miss may have caused. Finding none, he tossed his empty pack away, refocused on Tahiri's position, and set off once again.
Jaina, Kyp, Ben, and Jake stared in wide-eyed horror at the display that had been brought up on the screen. The description of "human slave using Vong weapons" was the biggest possible understatement. The only thing remotely resembling a human on the thing they were looking at was the upper body. The head was larger than normal, and the eyes looked like the compound eyes of an insect. Where its arms should have been there were two, five-foot long amphistaffs. The legs looked alien, and the knee joints were backward.
"This," Luke began somberly, "is another example of Yuuzhan Vong shaping. As hard as it may be to believe, this thing was actually a human once.
"In a desperate attempt to create a newer, better Jedi hunting weapon from the voxyn we remember so vividly …"
The six Jedi shivered at the thought of those monsters that could smell Jedi and had killed so many.
"The Vong genetically engineered this," Luke said gesturing at the screen. "We believe the Vong called this a sha'avortk. For convenience, we refer to them as vorts. The splicing of a human's DNA in several ways, it seems, created the vort. The base was human and at least two more elements were spliced into its DNA.
"The head seems to have some characteristics of a voxyn. Poison barbs, which we also believe to be sensory organs, cover the back and top of the head.
"Obviously, the second element is DNA from an amphistaff, transforming the human's arms into the deadly weapons. And yes, these "armphistaffs" so to speak have all of the same characteristics as normal amphistaffs.
"And finally, the legs." Luke paused as he shut off the image. He turned to his audience and shrugged his shoulders in apology. "Unfortunately, analysis so far has not told us anything about the nature of the legs. It could be a side effect from the rearranging of DNA, or it could have been done on purpose." Luke smiled and shrugged again. "As I said, I have no idea."
"And this thing can sense Force users?" Jaina queried.
Luke nodded, "Their senses aren't as acute as the voxyn's was, otherwise we may not be safe anywhere on this planet. Also, the vort is not as aggressive as the voxyn, making it easier for the Vong to control."
"Jake said you fought one of these," Kyp added.
"Yes, and in doing so, I was able to discover a fact that may keep us from being killed right away. Because, I believe, of the human element of the vort, its actions can be sensed, unlike all previous Vong weapons. Despite its appearance, the vort's brain is actually quite strategically brilliant. It has full control over its entire body; even the many facets of the armphistaffs."
"You mean to tell us that you learned all of this just by poking around in this thing's head for a few moments?" Kyp sounded impressed.
Luke just grinned at Kyp's own way of giving praise.
"The old guy's still got it," Jaina said under her breath but loud enough for Luke to hear.
Ben and Kyp chuckled, and Luke gave them a mock look of hurt, to which Mara smothered a laugh.
Even Jake joined in the moment of silliness.
After which, the six Jedi sat down to come up with a plan of action. Somehow they would find a way to liberate Dantooine of the vorts.
Denz was beginning to feel the fatigue from lack of food. He sat down on a patch of moss and took a swig from his canteen. It didn't help much. Denz stopped focusing on Tahiri's location and rested. Because of his exhaustion, Denz did not sense the hooded figure approach him from the cover of the trees.
The young Jedi's eyes flew open at the snap of a twig. He leapt to his feet, causing his head to feel dizzy, and tried to discern exactly what this thing was in front of him.
The creature held out a gloved hand and in a surprisingly high but raspy voice said, "Water."
Denz didn't move at first, and then slowly reached for his canteen. He poured water into the cap and handed it to the stranger.
The hooded figure slurped the liquid thirstily. When he tilted his head back to drink, Denz thought he saw what looked like pink fur. The creature handed the top back to Denz and spoke again, "Thank you for your generosity. In return, I would like to give you this." The hooded creature pulled from beneath his cloak a small paper bag.
Denz raised an eyebrow at this and took the bag. He opened the top and smelled the sweet aroma of chocolate chip cookies.
The stranger's white muzzle grinned as Denz savored every bite of one of the cookies. The hooded stranger watched as Denz took a bite and yelled, "OW!" in surprise. Denz spit out the hard piece into his hand. Covered in cookie dough and chocolate, Denz couldn't make out what it was. When he looked up, the creature with cookies was gone. Oh well, at least I've got food now. Denz closed the gap between himself and Tahiri within a half hour.
What Denz saw when he exited the forest was a humongous temple or shrine in a terrible state of disrepair but still standing. In the center of it all was Tahiri, who greeted him warmly and invited Denz to meditate with her until the others arrived.
Denz realized that he was the first one here and decided to take Tahiri up on her offer. He sat down cross-legged next to the Jedi Teacher … and waited.
Cordell was sweating. Not sweat from nervousness, but sweat from frustration and exertion. It had been eleven hours now. He was the only one left in the workshop. Even Zeek had finished and left a couple hours before.
Zeek's chair had scraped the floor as it slid back.
Cordell looked up, "What's are you doing, Zeek?"
The quiet young Jedi held out his completed lightsaber, "I'm done."
Cordell couldn't believe it. In his hands, Zeek held a remarkably small lightsaber handle. It was very sleek and lightweight. Two hands would completely cover the hilt.
Zeek whisked the handle behind his back and clipped it to his belt. He then donned his cloak, and as he passed a slightly miffed Cordell, Zeek put a hand on his shoulder. "I wish you luck, and may the Force be with you." Zeek then exited the workshop via a turbolift.
Cordell was almost sure the Force was not with him as he struggled to decide where a connection should be made. With only a half hour to spare, Cordell sealed the outer case around the components. Looking at it, he realized that it was a bit chunkier than most, but he credited that to the size of the power pack he had used.
In anticipation of constructing his lightsaber, a while back Cordell had fashioned a shoulder strap to hold it. He liked the idea of it being closer than his belt.
Cordell threw on his cloak and raced to the turbolifts. He tapped his foot on the floor in impatience as the turbolift shot up to the first floor. He dashed down the hallway and almost ran into the door to the lounge, forgetting that it did not open automatically. When Cordell finally figured out how to get the door open, he shot into the lounge and almost crashed into the Lowbacca, who had positioned himself in front of the outside door. Cordell skidded to a halt.
Lowbacca gestured at his lightsaber. As Cordell handed it to him, he noticed another human kid sitting on a couch, looking really upset. Before he had time to speculate, Lowbacca handed his lightsaber back, as well as giving him a pack of rations and a canteen.
Cordell slid the lightsaber back into its holder and grabbed the other stuff as he charged out the door. As he ran, Cordell slung the pack onto his back and the canteen around his neck. This is it! Now that I have a lightsaber, I'll show everyone how powerful I really am.
Jyo and Salah were close; they could feel it. In only a matter of moments, the two would join Tahiri, completing their second test.
What amazed them most was that they had made it all this way without getting split up. Granted, circumstances had come close to doing just that.
From simple disagreements about the best way to go, to a rushing river that almost washed Jyo downstream, the two had remained together. Logic told them that there was safety in numbers so they stuck it out.
Now they walked side by side through what they thought was the last part of the forest. Salah suddenly stopped and grabbed Jyo shoulder. "Listen!" she said.
Jyo did, "I don't hear anything."
"Shh! It's a humming sound."
Jyo switched his goggles to thermograph mode and spotted several small pockets of heat heading toward them.
Within seconds, a dozen small floating orbs surrounded them. All of the orbs began to spin, and one opened fire with low powered laser shots that Jyo ducked. "They're practice orbs!" Jyo exclaimed.
Salah's response was unclipping her lightsaber from behind her back and igniting it. The dark fuchsia blade came to life with a snap-hiss as Salah began deflecting shots from the other orbs. Jyo rolled to the side to avoid more shots and leaped to his feet activating his lightsaber at the same time. He leapt backward and landed back to back with Salah. He now counted only ten orbs hovering about and deduced that Salah must have deflected shots back at two of them.
Jyo found that it was not as easy as he thought to deflect shots back at the shooter, as his lavender lightsaber moved from side to side, careful not to let any shots through. He heard Salah yelp in pain from behind him, and a moment later she growled, as she swung hard at another shot, sending it back to the orb, destroying it. Jyo finally began to get deflected shots to hit the tiny orbs.
And then it was over. The two young Jedi deactivated their lightsabers and clipped them back to their respective belts. Jyo turned to Salah and asked if she was injured.
She shook her head of red hair no longer in a bun. Salah indicated a spot above her knee where the skin had been exposed. "It's red, but the shot didn't break the skin."
Jyo nodded, "You should still rinse it off, and I've got some antibacterial cream you can put on it." He pulled a small med kit from one of his pockets. "Do you still have water in your canteen?"
Salah picked up her canteen, which had fallen from shoulder during the attack, and was surprised at how light it felt. Then she spotted it. A small hole near the bottom about the size of a blaster shot. "Nope." Salah said as she showed Jyo the hole that her water had leaked out of.
Jyo nodded and grabbed his own canteen, which was still half full.
Salah sat down on a small rock as Jyo took a cloth from his med kit and soaked it in water from his canteen. He wiped the burned area clean, which made Salah wince slightly. Jyo then took a small patch and squeezed some cream onto it, which he pressed against the wound. After he was sure it was stuck there, Jyo packed up his med kit.
The cream felt nice and cool on Salah's burn, and she asked, "How did you know what to do?"
Jyo just shrugged, "I probably read every book in the library back on the Installation, including ones on treating simple wounds."
Salah smiled and thanked him, "I guess I should be glad that you're such a bookworm."
Jyo chuckled, and they began walking again. He was pleased to see that Salah did not have a limp. They were quickly covering ground and soon saw light up ahead. The two Jedi students stepped out onto a stone pathway that led up to a stone platform, on which sat Tahiri and Denz.
Denz rushed down and clapped Jyo on the back. Saying how glad he was that Jyo and Salah had made it through all right. He led them up to Tahiri, who also greeted them.
Then the two new arrivals sat and relaxed. Jyo and Salah smiled at each other. In the end, they were glad that they hadn't split up.