"Cast aside your sight, cast aside what you can see" – Kreia, Former Sith Lord, Former Jedi Historian, Former Jedi Mentor
The second that HK and Lek clambered aboard, Atton pushed hard on the throttle and violently pulled the Hawk upwards until it was vertical. Whatever had caused Lek to linger in the Trayus Core could very well cost the lives of the entire crew. And, if they all died… What would have been the point in fighting anyway? After Kreia had killed Vrook, Zez Kai-Ell and Kavar and Atris had fallen to the Dark Side…It seemed likely that Lek was indeed the Last Jedi. But if he died…
With that thought, Atton realized how much weight lay on his shoulders. He gritted his teeth and reached out with the Force, as Lek had showed him. It seemed to him that he could feel the intense heat of the destruction of Malachor V, regardless of the ship's cooling system.
This is it. We can't escape in time. I can't escape in time.
Atton shook the thought from his head. His brow furrowed as his concentration became intense to a point that even he thought he'd never been able to achieve. He would need something more than his skill as a pilot and something more than his basic understanding of the Force if he and the crew were to survive this alive. He reached out further with his mind then he'd ever done before, praying that the solution would become apparent.
Atton.
Atton.
Atton, I know you can hear me.
Lek?
Atton…This is your battlefield, not mine.
Lek, I can't do this. Malachor…Malachor isn't relevant. The battle takes place in your own heart. It isn't one that I can win for you…But it is one that you can win for me…
Lek?
Lek?
Lek?
He'd gone.
But he was right. It was a battle that Lek could not win for him. Equally, it was not a battle that Atton was fighting for himself – he was fighting it for Lek, for the life of the Last Jedi. Lek had taught him only rudimentary Force techniques, but had talked of many more. One in particular came up again and again. And old technique that the Jedi pilots had used in the Sith Wars and one that Cay Qel-Droma was particularly famous for.
Atton reached with his mind into the ship's humming sub-light engines and, ever so slightly…nudged them.
They responded.
For a split second, Atton was too amazed to react. The thought of Lek brought him to… There was still work to be done. He reached out again, this time deep within the workings of the engine and pushed with his mind. The engine moaned in protest, but Atton was unyielding… The Hawk would escape Malachor even if it was the last escape it ever made.
Lek smiled to himself. They'd be all right.
No one dared interrupt Atton…Even though he was piloting the ship with his eyes tightly shut, as though he was in some kind of deep sleep, they knew better than to exchange more than frightened looks with each other.
But they knew he'd do it. They all felt it… Even the droids were silent.
Atton's mind became numb to anything outside the ship… He was only aware of the necessity that was speed. He pushed the engine once more with his mind before slowly withdrawing to the cockpit. He was expecting a difficult transition – but nothing like this. The sub-light drive refused to be ignored. Atton attempted to forcibly tug his mind out, but he was denied. His consciousness was trapped and he couldn't drag it out.
"Something's wrong. Really wrong" Mira spoke only in a whisper, but everyone heard. Lek and HK remained silent; Visas nodded in acknowledgement; T3 whistled mournfully; Bao-Dur exhaled loudly; Brianna gave a rare look of disbelief – she had always avoided most of the crew, with the exception of Lek, especially Atton and it was not surprising that she did not know quite what to expect from him.
"He must be assisted." Brianna strode quickly off towards to the cockpit.
"No."
Lek turned around to the one who would dare to command such a strong-willed woman and was astonished to find that it was Visas, who had lived nearly her entire adult life in the service of Darth Nihilus. Brianna stopped for a brief moment to shoot Visas a malicious glare and then carried on.
"Brianna… Do not take one more step forward." Lek's deep voice, the same voice that had lead Republic soldiers against the Mandalorians as well as a rag-tag selection of assassins, bounty hunters and ex-soldiers against the Sith, forging the beginnings of a new Jedi Order in the process.
Brianna's lip twisted. She could ignore that blind Sith, the one who Lek had insisted would help them destroy a common enemy, the one who had stolen Lek from under her nose when she had believed him to be dead. But she could not ignore him. She could not ignore the man who had exposed her mistress's lies, who had traveled half way across the galaxy to save her from Atris's wrath. She could not ignore the man that she loved.
Then we wait.
Atton felt light-headed, but not the kind of light-headedness that comes from a lack of oxygen or from standing up to quickly. This was a kind of light-headedness that was caused by exerting his Force abilities to the extreme. He could not pull himself away; he had to face the Force.
He cleared his mind and disregarded everything he thought he knew. He was so good at blocking out the Force, from obstructing invasions into his mind, whether they be from Sith or Jedi, but that would be of no use to him now. He had to stop fighting the Force and start living under its influence.
And with that thought, Atton Rand, who had once hunted and killed Jedi, became as close to that which he had hated as he would ever become.
"Here goes nothing", he mumbled under his breath as he accelerated, leaving the husk of the former world behind him.
The ship was still; the tension was more tangible than any of them would have ever thought possible. Visas was silent, her blood-red lips twisted. Brianna was fiddling absently with the Jedi robes she was wearing. The droids had fallen silent. Bao-Dur was leaning with both hands on the large holo-projector that resided in the middle of the main hold, his expression intense but completely unreadable.
However, Lek thought that Mira looked more nervous than any of the others. It was a subtle thing. Someone who had not traveled with her, rescued and been rescued by her, led her on her first steps to becoming a Jedi, would not have noticed it, but it was there. Lek closed his eyes and sent a wave of tranquility to her through their Force Bond. He re-opened his eyes slowly, locked them on Mira and saw the slightest hint of calm upon her face.
He's done it he heard her voice in his head.
I know he replied.
Atton strode out of the cockpit and into the main hold with a grin on his face and a feeling of elation quite unlike anything he had ever experienced. He'd saved his own life, but more importantly he'd saved Lek… The last Jedi and the only hope for Atton's redemption.
There was a moment of silence. It lingered there for a while and Atton's stomach sunk suddenly an inch or two…His eyes met the Handmaiden's first, but she quickly turned her gaze. He looked next at Bao-Dur, whose expression was unreadable as always. Finally, he turned his head to Mira. The corners of her mouth were curled into a smile, which Atton returned. She grinned and then they both erupted into fits of laughter.
"You crazy son of a Hutt!" she teased as she ran up to him.
Lek and Bao-Dur exchanged knowing looks as the red-headed bounty hunter placed Atton into a playful headlock and scratched the top of his head. The two of them chuckled, their laughter bouncing off of the walls. It sounded beautiful to Lek after so many years of darkness, a humorless time, now broken by two people who had until now mistrusted each other so deeply. He exchanged knowing looks with Bao-Dur and knew that what was happening was just as important for the Iridonian as it was for him – since the Mandalorian Wars, Bao-Dur had never felt anything but a deep sadness, a well of sorrow, pulling him down. Maybe it would now be relieved.
Only three crew members seemed not to approve of the bounty hunter's and the scoundrel's actions. HK-47 turned away in disgust, but that was to be expected; Visas, as hypocritical as it may have seemed, frowned on their actions; Brianna turned on her heel smartly and left the hold in silence.