Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! :)

I apologize for the lateness of this update - I ended up re-writing multiple times, trying to get everything in place for future occurrences. I'm at a point in the story now where I end up having to write backwards, to a certain extent, just to make sure everything matches up properly.

Thanks to Sandriassaber and Griffin Stone, who helped . . . mostly by allowing me to complain about the chapter. :) By the time I was done listing off everything that wasn't 'working', the solution more or less materialized on its own.


Tech wavered in place, gripping the edge of the Marauder's open door with one hand as he tried to work through the effects of the sleeping gas. He hadn't quite heard what Hunter said – well, he had heard it, but he hadn't really understood it – and now Hunter and Wrecker were running towards the academy. What are they doing?

The two commandos hesitated briefly at the academy entrance, then darted inside and vanished. Wherever their footsteps had disturbed the ash, it now floated into the air . . . and started to drift east, picking up speed as it went.

Tech narrowed his eyes at the wind – it had most definitely not been present fifteen seconds ago. "That would seem to be problematic."

Beside him, Quinlan, who was holding on to the opposite side of the door, followed his gaze. "The storm's coming back."

Tech blinked, trying to keep his eyes from closing. "Why did it stop so abruptly?"

"I don't know." The Jedi hesitated. "But if it keeps up . . . Tech, are you alert enough that I can leave you and Crosshair?"

Tech didn't answer, because he didn't know. The answer to that question depended partially on how alert they needed to be, and partially on whether they would stay behind if Quinlan decided to leave. "Why?"

"Because . . ." He trailed off, frowning as though in concentration. "I think I might have to."

Tech glanced over one shoulder just in time to see Crosshair clumsily inject himself with a stim shot.

Oh, he thought blankly. It was a good idea, but Tech didn't necessarily need a stim shot; the sedative was wearing off on its own. Already he was feeling more awake.

Moving on autopilot, Tech fetched his weapons belt from where he'd dropped it, just inside the cargo hold. He was buckling it around his waist when Crosshair stepped forward and jabbed a second hypo into his neck.

Tech jumped, but even as he opened his mouth to snap at him, Crosshair caught his eyes and jerked his head towards Quinlan. Tech followed his gaze and realized that Quinlan was standing on the edge of the open doorway as though ready to jump out.

But he had no reason to leave the ship, not unless Hunter commed, did he? Even as Tech thought this, the shot's effects woke his mind fully and he really registered the situation. Vythia was gone, for some reason. Hunter and Wrecker were gone, trying to find out what she was up to. The rest of them were supposed to stay on the Marauder, which, given their track record and how nothing had quite gone according to plan on this mission, meant they probably were not going to stay on the Marauder . . .

Quinlan, who had turned to face them, said, "Crosshair – pass me one of those."

Crosshair tossed a hypo to him, then vanished into the hold. Tech frowned out at the ever-increasing wind. If they got inside and the storm went back to the gale it had been before, the team would be trapped inside –

The next instant, Tech almost wanted to hit himself for being stupid. Instead, he ran towards the cockpit and slid into the pilot's seat, calling, "Do not jump out yet! I am going to move the ship."

It was the work of moments to move the Marauder so that its door was only a meter from the right edge of the academy door. Already, though, Tech was having to compensate for the increasingly heavy gusts of wind. As soon as he landed, he put the systems on standby and darted out of the cockpit.

The main hall of the academy was so high that, despite the height of the Marauder, the ship's roof was still significantly below the level of the ceiling. Quinlan stood in the doorway, leaning forward as though trying to see farther down the lantern-lit hall.

"What are we doing?" Tech asked. "Waiting for the others, or going in after them?"

"I don't kn –"

The rest of his words were drowned out by the staggering pain that pierced Tech's chest. His first thought, I've been shot? was closely followed by, No, that is impossible, as he glanced down at his undamaged shirt.

Then the fire vanished. Tech straightened with a gasp and stared at the Jedi, who stared back at him in surprise, untouched by the sudden attack. Tech took a deep breath and said, "Quinlan, I believe –"

"Yeah. The leviathan. . ." Quinlan's tone was quiet. He reached over one shoulder and removed his lightsaber from his pack. "That thing's going to kill us if we don't get it first."

He jumped down into the corridor of the academy. Crosshair, who hadn't gotten his armor on – because it is not fully fixed – but was wearing his rifle over one shoulder, followed without comment.

"No one is answering," said Tech, studying the comm unit he had strapped to his wrist. "They cannot have gotten that far – perhaps they have only just passed the limit of their range."

Quinlan nodded once. "I'm going in."

Tech was wearing his belt, which meant he had his datapad and pistols . . . He hesitated for an instant, wondering if he should take the time to get his armor on, but it would take at least a full minute, and would do nothing to protect him against a leviathan.

He didn't want to tell the others to wait – Quinlan was already striding into the hall, with none of the hesitancy he'd shown earlier, and Crosshair was following. Tech hit the door's seal and jumped after his teammates, landing right in front of the main entrance in several inches of ash.

Behind them, the wind returned inexplicably to its previous shrill volume and rapid speed. All three of them looked back at it together, and then Crosshair and Tech glanced at Quinlan.

"I think we just made it," he muttered, and turned to head down the corridor. "That storm let Vythia in, didn't it?"

Tech blinked uncertainly. He could not actually say that Quinlan's perception of the situation was wrong, but assigning motives to a natural phenomenon was very hard to understand . . . Even harder to understand, in fact, than assigning emotions to one. He dismissed the thought from his mind. "My comm is set on continual transmission. They should hear us as soon as we are in range."

No one answered while they climbed over the fallen masonry that littered the first section of the hallway. Crosshair was moving a bit less smoothly than usual, and Tech noticed his own coordination was perhaps ten percent lower than normal. Quinlan, though, moved rapidly and without hesitation. His Kiffar physiology was quite likely the cause of his quick recovery.

We are fortunate that Vythia failed to realize that he is much less affected by that particular sleeping agent than most Kiffar, Tech thought absently. And that we have an enhanced metabolism.

Even as Tech thought that, he tried again to comm Hunter, then Wrecker. Receiving no answer, he started a local scan for heat signatures.

"What's the plan?" Crosshair asked suddenly. "Or do we not have one?"

"As soon as we meet up with the others and figure out where the leviathan is, we'll get one." Quinlan skidded to a halt, glancing distractedly around. "Tech."

Tech held up a hand, watching his screen as the results popped up. There. Hunter and Wrecker were quite close, just nearing the center, and Vythia was in the center . . .

And so was one end of a strange, wavery image that seemed to be covering nearly half of the opposite corridors. "Ah," he said uncertainly, then held out his datapad to the Jedi. "Quinlan . . .?"

Quinlan glanced once at the scanner, stared down the hall for a moment, then spat something that sounded vaguely Huttese.

Before Tech could do more than wonder about the translation, Quinlan burst into a run, shouting, "It's in the center!"

Crosshair, who already had his rifle out, dashed after him.

Tech followed, trying three times as he ran to send Hunter an alert. There was no confirmation.

Ahead of him, Quinlan yelled, "Hunter, Wrecker, wait!"

They were approaching the central room now, and Tech felt his coordination returning with every step. Adrenaline pounded through his veins until he was moving on autopilot, running significantly faster than his usual pace.

A shrill hiss came from up ahead, and the room seemed to waver slightly. Tech forced himself to move even faster. Hunter, Wrecker, wait, don't go in there!

His teammates had already gone into the central room, though – Tech could see the entrance, and the light from the pillar, but Wrecker and Hunter and Vythia were nowhere in sight.

He nearly tripped when he heard his own voice shouting from up ahead. "Wrecker, wait!" and Crosshair did trip – the sniper regained his balance just as his voice shouted for Wrecker and Hunter to stay where they were.

Quinlan turned halfway around in shock, staring at the corridor to his left, from which the voices seemed to be emanating. Tech was still watching him when he heard the Jedi's voice yell, "Hunter!"

A loud, hollow hiss from the central room made them all jerk their attention back in that direction. Tech's head gave a piercing throb, and he felt dizzy. He swayed, catching himself against the wall, just as Crosshair missed another step. We are at a severe disadvantage, Tech noted blankly.

Then blaster shots sounded from up ahead, and his headache vanished. Everyone seemed to straighten together and resume running. Distant screams sounded all through the corridor, some farther away, some closer. None of the voices were familiar, and none were the same.

"Stay back!" Hunter snapped. It sounded like he was behind them, but at almost the same moment Tech heard him cry out from ahead.

Quinlan skidded to a halt outside the central room's main door and held out an arm to stop Tech and Crosshair.

The creature facing the doorway from across the room was monstrous, both in size and appearance. It was bone-white all over, except for its four eyes and the inside of its open mouth, which were pure black. The half-dozen tentacles that trailed down from its upper jaw were reaching towards Wrecker, who was the only one still standing. Hunter was on his knees near the flaming pillar, fumbling blindly for his gun as the leviathan stared down at him. Several meters away, Vythia was just getting to her feet, her whip in hand but deactivated.

Hunter staggered to his feet. "Get back to the doors!"

Tech lifted his pistols, ready to cover his retreat, but Quinlan said, "Wait."

A half-severed tentacle reached towards Wrecker, who held his massive vibroblade ready. He struck directly across the injury, cutting off the end of the twitching appendage.

At the same instant, Crosshair fired and the leviathan's upper left eye vanished.

For an instant, the room seemed drained of all sound, and then the leviathan drew in on itself, head jerking backwards over its massive coils as it let out a long, audible breath. The distant screams sounded again.

Quinlan, who had his hand outstretched as though he'd intended to stop Crosshair from firing, watched tensely. Vythia was still backing away, whip handle clutched to her chest. Hunter and Wrecker had turned and were running toward the main door.

Then the leviathan lowered its head nearly to the ground, its three remaining eyes glittering directly at Crosshair. As it opened its mouth slightly, Tech fired into it with both pistols – so did Crosshair, but the leviathan twitched aside, easily avoiding the shots as it inhaled loudly.

Quinlan activated his lightsaber with a flash of green just as Crosshair crumpled and fell, still clutching his rifle.

Hunter jumped over him, turned and fired again. The monster reared up, muscular body propelling it halfway across the floor as its head wavered in place.

Wrecker jerked Crosshair to his feet and to the left of the doorway, taking shelter behind the wall. Tech and Hunter squeezed in beside them just as Vythia darted out of the room. She and Quinlan glanced back at the leviathan together, then joined the others without speaking.

Tech crouched, balancing on one knee beside Hunter. No one said anything about the fact that hiding was all but pointless. For an instant, they all listened to the dry, approaching scrapes of scales over stone. Then the rasping stopped, and the screaming started.

Tech's instinct was to cover his ears – he couldn't quite manage, because he was holding both pistols, but the screams were loud. And there were so many of them, overlayed and interspersed with one another. As far as he could tell, each of the voices was different –

A hand grabbed his wrist, and he looked up to see Hunter gesturing. Tech couldn't hear his words above the screams, but the next instant Hunter lifted his right hand, flicked two fingers up to signal a retreat, and jerked his head toward the main hallway.

Tech started to follow him, but Quinlan's hands on their shoulders stopped them both short. They turned, and Quinlan gestured to a half-open side door a few meters down the hall. One of the living quarters, Tech remembered.

Without speaking, they all ducked into the small room, and Wrecker swung the door shut, holding it closed with his weight. The screams were muted, surprisingly enough considering that the leviathan itself did not appear to be physically making those sounds.

Tech glanced at Vythia, then realized that everyone else was looking at her also.

Vythia completely ignored them, except for Quinlan – her gaze flicked once to his lightsaber, then to his face. "I assume you have a reason for hiding here," she said, her voice only slightly shaky.

Crosshair finally straightened a little, grimacing as he pressed one hand against his chest.

"We need to kill the leviathan." Quinlan turned to Hunter. "We could outrun it and get back to the ship, but we can't take off. The storm's back, and we're well within the leviathan's range now. Tech got attacked shortly before you guys did."

"Okay," said Hunter, clenching and unclenching one hand at his side. "How do we kill it? Any ideas?"

Everyone hesitated for an instant, then –

"I got one." Wrecker slung his pack from his shoulders. "Only one way to kill a monster that big. Blow it up."

"Like the stormbeast," said Vythia.

Hunter nodded. "Except we can't be sure this thing actually eats. . . Wrecker, can you lay a trap?"

"Yeah." He held up a proximity mine. "I'll lay 'em along a hallway. Not the main one, though. Too big."

"Too big?" Vythia asked, eyeing the mines. "Those have quite the range."

"Yup." Wrecker was setting out his other supplies already. "But I dunno if they'll even get through that thing's scales unless they're real close up."

"Therefore," Tech said, pulling out his datapad. "The smaller the hallway, the more effective they will be. However, for that to work, one of us will have to get it to follow."

"Right." Hunter tilted his head. "Preferably without getting killed. . ."

"It'll take several of us." Quinlan glanced down at his lightsaber. "At least we know its eyes are vulnerable, to an extent."

Vythia glanced up. "Leviathans do not depend on physical sight . . . but it might give us an advantage. It tends to look at its victims each time it attacks when we are in sight."

"It can't focus on all of us at once, either," Quinlan interrupted, as though only just realizing the fact. He glanced at Crosshair and Tech. "The attack it made on us in the hall was weak – just disorienting – and that was while it was busy attacking Hunter."

"Hm." Vythia raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, listening to the continuing screams from outside. "Presuming we act under that supposition, what does it gain us?"

"Time, maybe." Quinlan edged over to the door and leaned against it as though listening. "If we're careful . . ."

He trailed off, and for a moment all that could be heard were the not-quite-there screams. Tech inched a hand toward his datapad screen, almost wanting to record them, but decided against it.

Wrecker stood up, having finished arranging his explosives for quick access. "Hey," he said, elbowing Tech. "It knows where we are, right?"

"I – assume so." But if that is the case, then why . . .

Wrecker spoke right into his thoughts. "So why isn't it attacking us?"

". . . It is," snarled Crosshair.

Tech blinked and turned to face him, putting away his datapad as he did so. Crosshair was slightly curled in on himself, leaning one palm against the wall as he scowled at the floor.

"Why didn't you say something?" snapped Hunter. Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed the lightsaber from his own pack. "Quinlan?"

"It's still in the center." Quinlan opened the door, but didn't leave the room. "I think it's afraid of getting shot again. Crosshair, stay back – take out its eyes if you can. I'll keep it busy."

"Try to get it up the stairs," said Wrecker. He leaned over Tech's datapad and pointed. "I'm gonna plant 'em along a side corridor on the second floor – it'll give me more time and you guys more room to maneuver."

"Got it." Hunter took a deep breath. "All right, let's give him some cover."

Tech nodded to him and drew both pistols.


Hunter leaned back against the corridor wall as he crept cautiously to the center room entrance. The leviathan made no movement at his approach – or if it did, he couldn't feel it. Hunter waited until the others were in position, then peered into the room.

The leviathan was coiled around the central pillar, head eight meters in the air as it swayed gently back and forth. It faced Hunter, but its eyes were closed.

Focused on its own attack, Hunter realized, casting a look at Crosshair, who was looking even more pale and bad-tempered than usual.

Hunter clenched his hand around the lightsaber hilt, finger hovering over the activator stud, and glanced across the doorway to Quinlan.

The Jedi nodded and took a deep breath, then dashed into the room, activating his weapon as he moved.

Instantly, the leviathan's eyes opened and it rounded on him, ducking its head in an attempt to reach him with his tentacles. Quinlan darted back, aiming an overhand blow at them, and it dodged, turning from the door.

"Go!" Hunter hissed, and Wrecker dashed across the wide room towards the staircase.

With a signal to the others to follow, Hunter activated his own lightsaber and sprinted after Wrecker, holding the blade down to one side.

The leviathan unwound itself ferociously from the pillar and lunged, snapping its black fangs closed repeatedly as it dove after Wrecker. Behind it, Quinlan kicked off the pillar and slashed down, leaving a deep score in the side of its body.

Again the monster coiled in on itself, and the chorus of echoing screams that seemed to constantly surround it faded into silence. Its remaining eyes narrowed at the Jedi, who stepped back with an alarmed look. He deactivated his weapon only just before the leviathan inhaled.

Hunter didn't feel a thing, but Quinlan slammed to his knees, clutching at his head with a yell.

Skidding to a halt across from him, the sergeant struck, the humming green blade skipping a little as he slashed it across the clammy white scales. He stepped back too late, and the leviathan's muscular body knocked him flying.

Hunter landed and rolled sideways to get back to his feet as Tech darted across his path, firing sideways with both pistols into the monster's neck. Crosshair was standing in the center of the doorway, firing at its eyes, and Wrecker had disappeared up the stairs.

The leviathan's long, waving tentacles reached for Quinlan, who pushed himself to his feet and stumbled aside, one hand braced against the flaming pillar as his lightsaber burst back into existence. As Hunter ran towards him, Vythia appeared out of nowhere and spun, slashing first her whip and then her knife across the creature's underbelly.

To Hunter's surprise, the knife left a deep gash. He darted past Vythia, trying to strike across the injury, but as he drew his arm back for a blow, something caught his right wrist and yanked him back.

Hunter turned instinctively with the pull, pivoting on one foot to grab his knife from its sheath as he struggled not to drop the lightsaber. A blur of motion made him duck as a long tentacle whipped past overhead, but he didn't dodge the second in time. The appendage wrapped around his waist and jerked him into the air as the first tentacle squeezed around his arm and hand, trapping his knife.

Dragging Hunter with it, the leviathan reared up until its head nearly touched the ceiling. It shifted lightly from side to side, the motion dizzying from twelve meters up as Hunter wrenched against the hold the monster had on his arm.

Crosshair ran a few steps forward, stopped, and fired into its second upper eye. The leviathan jerked so hard that it cracked the top of its skull against the ceiling, causing a thin scattering of reddish dust drifted down. Its coils loosened ever so slightly, and Hunter threw his weight forward, finally managing to twist the lightsaber downward. The blade seared off the last half-meter of the tentacle, which jerked back.

Hunter didn't get the chance to strike again. The support around his waist vanished, and for an instant he thought he was going to fall, but then two tentacles wrapped around him from either side and squeezed. Hunter dropped the lightsaber, shouting against the sudden pressure on his chest and waist. His armor gave an audible crack –

A flurry of lasers flashed past him, and the leviathan dodged all but a few, ducking and twisting its head until Hunter could barely see straight. He fought and jerked to get free, the monster's hold unyielding as it continued to constrict his breathing. Below him, he heard Vythia's whip coiling and slashing repeatedly – then the explosion of a thermal. The loops around him stopped tightening, and Hunter let out an unconscious gasp of relief.

Wrecker's back, he realized, just as a quiver traveled through the leviathan's entire body. Casting a look at the ground, Hunter caught a glimpse of Quinlan leaning forward, throwing his full weight against both lightsaber hilts as he slowly drove the blades into the snake's lower body.

The leviathan jerked and shuddered, and its lower jaw fell open – then the tentacles shoved Hunter directly into the black interior of its mouth.

Vythia shouted his name in alarm as the tentacles withdrew, but Hunter hardly noticed. He didn't even realize he had moved until he was standing upright on its slippery tongue and had driven his knife up to the hilt in the roof of its mouth.

Even as he ripped it free, the air shifted around him. Hunter jumped, clutching desperately at the lower left fang with one hand. He hung by his fingertips for an instant; then a tentacle slapped against his side, and he lost his grip and fell.

Hunter twisted, trying to take the impact on his side rather than his back, but there was no impact. He opened his eyes in shock – he was only a meter from the floor, and Quinlan was ten meters away, reaching towards him one hand. His other still held a lightsaber, while Hunter's blade was embedded in the snake's body, crackling slowly against its flesh. Vythia stood to Quinlan's left, and Crosshair was backing away, lifting his rifle for another shot.

Then Quinlan relaxed his fingers, and the invisible grip loosened. Hunter twisted to land on his feet and stepped back, feeling dizzy all over.

"Hunter, come on!" Someone grabbed Hunter by the shoulder, and he jerked around.

Tech – it was Tech, pulling him aside and shouting, "Hunter! Wrecker set the explosives, we have to lead it to the stairs!"

"Quinlan, move!" Crosshair yelled, leaning back and steadying his rifle.

The Jedi deactivated both blades and ran, Vythia two steps behind him.

Crosshair fired again, and Hunter didn't have to look to know that he'd taken out another eye. The leviathan screeched outright, flinging itself from side to side, then slammed its head against the pillar and curled in on itself.

"Hurry!" yelled Wrecker. "Come on, get it up the stairs!"

The snake threw itself fully to the ground and slithered forward with the speed of a tram, straight at Crosshair. Vythia leaped onto its back as it passed her and drove her knife through its scales. Hunter was right behind her. Their combined attack slowed it just enough that Crosshair managed to scramble out of the way.

Wrecker's next grenade exploded near its head, blackening the entire left side of its face. As its head jerked to the side, Crosshair tossed his rifle to Hunter, who caught it reflexively with one hand. Before the creature could recover, Crosshair flicked a reflector at the wall to his left, drew his pistol, and fired over one shoulder. The laser deflected into the leviathan's mouth, and it stopped short. Again, that strange silence seemed to fill the room.

The creature was irritated and in pain, but –

We haven't anywhere near killed it. Hunter slid from its back and sprinted for the stairs, Vythia close on his heels. Tech was halfway up already, and resumed shooting over their heads as the rest of the team dashed towards him. Hunter tossed Crosshair his rifle as they ran, and the sniper hung back a little to throw another reflector against the wall at the head of the stairs.

"Wrecker, which hallway?" Hunter called. His ribs ached, and he touched a hand against his cuirass, feeling the long crack that extended the length of the right side.

"Over here!" Wrecker ran out the side door of the second level's central room and stopped almost immediately, then turned right and pointed. The hallway he'd picked was not much smaller than the main corridor downstairs, but hopefully the meter and a half less would make the difference.

Hunter paused, staring at the mines and grenades and detpacks that Wrecker had placed every two meters along the entire hall. "Wrecker . . ."

"Yeah, we're not goin' through that," Wrecker answered. He held up the linked detonator. "We only need one decoy –"

"That's me," said Quinlan.

"Yup. Don't step on the red lasers and you'll be good. The rest of you guys should wait out of sight."

"If it's even following," said Crosshair, flicking another reflector to the floor in front of the hall entrance.

"It's following," Quinlan said, leaning over to catch his breath. "Slowly."

Vythia turned on her heel to face the center room. "I don't understand why it does not kill us." She sounded too calm, as though she was frightened and trying not to show it.

"It tried," Crosshair muttered. He eyed his reflector placement and added another to the left-hand wall.

"Yes, but not from the distance it attacked us from earlier," Tech noted. "I suspect that its eyes were essential to its – ranged attacks."

"Strange," said Vythia, following the others into one of the rooms directly opposite the trapped hallway.

"What's strange?" Wrecker asked.

"A non-physical attack requiring a physical sense . . ." She smirked a little at Quinlan, who simply gazed back at her and then handed Hunter his lightsaber.

Hunter took it, watching Vythia uneasily, but she ignored him.

"Wrecker?" she said, shifting her whip-hilt from one hand to the other. "I do hope you have enough explosives.

"Yeah, no kidding!" Wrecker didn't seem to have noticed her look. "I used all I had except for a couple grenades."

"It had better be enough," Tech said, looking at his datapad. "The leviathan is only just starting up the stairs. It appears to be getting cautious."

Crosshair rested his rifle against the wall and stepped out of their shelter. "Well. We can't have that." He leaned through the main room's doorway, fired to the right three times, and stepped back.

The distinct pinging sound of the lasers bouncing off the reflector to strike the leviathan was surprisingly loud. Hunter glanced down at the weapon in his hand, hefting it lightly. "Quinlan, if this doesn't work . . . then what?"

"We'll have to try hacking its head off," said Quinlan. "And with the armor that thing has, it'll take forever."

They looked at each other.

"We could stab it through the skull," suggested Hunter. "Probably be faster. . ."

"Or we could try the explosives first," Wrecker said, shoving his helmet back on his head. He grinned a little maniacally. "And worry about the rest after."

Crosshair slipped back into the room, aimed at the reflector on the ground, and shot that. The laser bounced up to hit the disc on the left wall and redirected towards the main door. The sound of it burning into the leviathan's face told Hunter exactly how close it was. He tightened his grip on the lightsaber hilt, his momentary humor vanishing.

"Okay," he said. "Quinlan . . ."

Quinlan darted into the hallway, stood motionless for an instant, and then dashed across into the trapped hall. He jumped easily over each of the laser triggers, moving smoothly –

Scales rasped heavily across the stones just outside, and the loud, harsh hiss that filled the hall close to the ground made Hunter jump. He squinted against the stabbing headache that followed. Quinlan staggered, not three meters from safety, then kept going, but he was moving clumsily.

The leviathan's head was out of sight above the top of the smaller room's door, but Hunter knew when it started to turn, heading into the trapped hallway.

Quinlan, MOVE! he thought, all but holding his breath. If the Jedi was within range of even one of those mines when the leviathan set off the first one, he'd be blown to bits.

He couldn't see down the hall anymore – the leviathan's long body blocked his vision as it coiled almost suspiciously in front of the entrance – and his senses weren't keen enough to tell him when exactly Quinlan would be at a safe range.

Then his helmet comm clicked, and Quinlan whispered raggedly, "I'm – clear."

Hunter leaned back against the wall while his teammates did the same on the opposite side, sheltered by the sides of the doorway. "It's not following."

"I know. I'm gonna – try something. Wrecker, just stay ready on the big ones."

Hunter looked up at Wrecker, who nodded that he'd heard.

The leviathan hissed again, and everyone flinched. It was attacking all of them now, but much more weakly than before. Then pistol shots sounded from down the hallway, and the headache vanished all at once. Hunter leaned forward again, watching.

The monster's huge coils shifted, and it inched forward. The injuries that Hunter and the others had inflicted on it were slowing it down a little, but not much – only just enough that it was wary of simply charging after them.

But after the twelfth shot, it seemed to make up its mind. Its long, dead-white body slowly unfurled until once again it was hovering high in the air. Then it heaved itself forward, crashing down all at once along the line of traps.

"GO!" yelled Hunter at the top of his lungs, just as Wrecker pressed the detonator.

Explosion after explosion shocked through the floor beneath them, one after the other in an ever-increasing pattern of vibrations and sound until Hunter had to steady himself against the door's edge. The leviathan's squeal sounded even above the echoing roar of the explosives detonating, and everyone cringed.

It all stopped at once – then the heavy thud of the leviathan striking against the floor, combined with a sudden burst of faint screams, made everyone tense again. But the sounds vanished, and complete silence fell.

Hunter and Tech stepped cautiously through the doorway. The leviathan's twisted body lay along half the corridor, torn open all down its sides, head bent at a right angle so that its last eye was visible, glazed over. But there was still no blood, and Hunter paused, holding up a cautioning hand.

At the other end of the hall, Quinlan was also slowly approaching, lightsaber ready in one hand . . . Then, abruptly, he stepped back, his blade snapping into existence.

"It is – still alive," Tech whispered.

Wrecker flung out his hands. "But how? It's practically in two pieces!"

The leviathan hadn't so much as twitched, but when Hunter looked back at its head, the single eye remaining to it was completely alert and staring right at him.

Crosshair fired, but it turned its head away, dragging itself into a coil despite its horrible injuries. It didn't just inhale, this time; it inhaled without stopping.

Vythia gasped. "No – it is drawing on the Force, it is attempting to heal itself!"

Hunter's vision whited out momentarily, and it was only the thud of his body against the floor that alerted him to the fact that he had fallen – he and all the others. The attack lasted barely a few seconds and then withdrew, leaving everyone panting and gasping as though they'd run a mile.

When Hunter's vision returned fully, he realized that one person was still under attack – at the end of the hall, Quinlan had collapsed and was writhing soundlessly.

Hunter shook his head hard to clear it, then stumbled to his feet and moved forward. "Wrecker, get him out!"

"Take these." Wrecker shoved two grenades at Vythia and dashed down the hall.

Hunter grabbed one grenade from her, and he and Vythia rushed after Wrecker.

As Vythia armed a grenade and shoved it into the creature's torn-open side, the leviathan dragged in another breath. Quinlan flipped onto his back, hands pressed against his face as he let out a hoarse scream.

Hunter paused long enough to push his own grenade in after Vythia's, then dashed forward after her. The muted explosion that followed made the leviathan's hissing breaths stutter but not stop.

As Wrecker grabbed Quinlan and hoisted him over one shoulder, Tech shot out the leviathan's last eye. The breaths it dragged in were almost convulsive now, but even Hunter stabbing his lightsaber deep into its open throat didn't make them stop.

He withdrew it, and the leviathan opened its black mouth, teeth gleaming dangerously . . . then closed it with a heavy snap, as though it lacked the energy to attack again. But it didn't stop breathing.

Hunter stepped back disbelievingly – and then, from down the hall, he heard Wrecker shouting for help.

Leaving the leviathan behind, he spun and ran. Wrecker had only just headed down the next corridor! They couldn't have run into anything . . . unless the leviathan had killed Quinlan –

He forced himself to run faster, then skidded around the corridor. There was no one in sight.

Wrecker's voice called again, though, somewhere ahead and to the right. "Hunter, hurry! You gotta help!"

"Wrecker, where are you?" Hunter slapped his transmitter. "Wrecker! Answer me, where are you? Quinlan! Wrecker!"

No answer, only the fading yells ahead of him. It sounded like Wrecker, and probably Quinlan, were getting dragged off somewhere – but where, and by what, and how?

Hunter reached the end of the next hallway, turned, and skidded to a stop, staring from one end to the other. Only the flickering green lanterns moved in the empty corridor, and still he could hear the voices, always farther ahead.

With a frantic curse, Hunter turned to face the others, to demand that Tech find them on sensors.

Crosshair slid to a halt beside him, breathing quickly, and Vythia stopped also, her black eyes wide as she looked at Hunter. No one else was behind them.

"Where's Tech?" Hunter's stomach turned to ice. "Crosshair! Where's Tech?!"