A little shorter than normal, but hopefully still enjoyable. :)


Hunter moved slowly across the narrow bridge that spanned the chasm. The walls beneath him flickered dizzyingly in the pulsing green light, and he held his hands to either side, focusing his gaze on the opposite end of the bridge. They were only about a third of the way across, and already Hunter was feeling the effect of the long, dizzying drop below him.

And if he was, Wrecker certainly was. On top of the fact that he already had a bad head for heights, he hadn't recovered from his concussion by any means, and his balance was off because he was carrying the Jedi.

Hunter took another careful step, considered pausing, and decided against it in favor of getting across quicker. "Wrecker, how you holding up?"

"Holdin' up fine!" Wrecker said, in a voice that was unconvincingly loud. "Uh . . . I'll be better once we're on the other side."

"Right." The bridge narrowed as they passed the center, and Hunter slowed even more. "Well, we're almost there."

He half-expected Tech to correct his use of the word 'almost', but there was no sound from either Tech or Crosshair. Quinlan was also utterly silent, and Hunter hoped he didn't regain consciousness until they were on solid ground. The last thing Wrecker needed was for Quinlan to wake up suddenly and start struggling.

"Hunter," Tech said. "Vyth – Zenaya is on the ninth level. She has slowed her pace, but I suspect her goal is to reach the Phoenix and leave."

Hunter took another two steps before he really registered that. "The Phoenix? Why not the Marauder?"

"Because she knows how to pilot the Phoenix, I expect. And there were other things on board that she might need."

"Things?"

"Such as the five red crystals." Tech's voice was restrained. "And whatever else was on board that Zenaya might have tricked Vythia into bringing along. We did not make a thorough search of the contents of her ship."

Hunter took two quick steps, crossing the last few meters, then stepped off the bridge and turned. "We need to get to the Marauder. We'll fly up to the roof and take the Phoenix so she can't leave Malachor. The Jedi Council can deal with her later."

"Good idea," Wrecker said, reaching solid ground with a sigh of relief. "I don't want to go chasing around after her. . . Or have her comin' after us."

Tech put away his datapad, frowning at the stairway that led back up the shaft to the central room of Trayus. "Hunter, can you feel the leviathan moving?"

Hunter placed a hand flat against the wall, but couldn't feel any of the slow vibrations. "No. Can't you see it?"

"No." Tech glanced at Crosshair, and then they started up the stairs again.

Hunter gestured Wrecker ahead of him, realizing that he'd seen enough stone steps to last him a lifetime. This was absolutely the last time he climbed or descended any stairs in Trayus. Once they reached the central room, there was a straight walk to the door and the Marauder . . . And at this point, if anything got in their way, Hunter would probably shoot it. Even if he couldn't kill it.

Wrecker moved steadily, but the sergeant could tell by the way he kept giving faint jerks that he was still dizzy. Hunter kept half his attention on him, in case he suddenly lost his balance, and the other half on reaching the top of the stairs.

You don't know what you're doing. . .

Hunter frowned. Quinlan's voice had been certain, when he said that. But why hadn't Quinlan told Vythia what would happen, if she continued the ritual? Why hadn't he warned her that Zenaya would be – released? Had Quinlan not known himself what would happen?

Hunter slowed down, trailing one hand against the stairwell wall as he continued upward. Why had Vythia been so certain herself about what would happen? How was it that she hadn't known that completing the ritual would bring Zenaya back?

. . . And how in the name of the Force had a Sith woman, dead for thousands of years, come back? None of it made any sense, and at last Hunter had to make an effort to stop considering it. All he had to do – all he could do – was focus on the next goal. Maybe he could ask questions about what had just happened later, when they were safe. Not until then.

But the steady look in Zenaya's eyes stayed in the back of his mind, and her calm, mocking voice sounded in his head again. You should have left when you had the chance.

What had she meant by that? If Zenaya intended to kill them, why hadn't she, when she had them all at her mercy? They could have died right then, and no one would ever have known. That was strange to think about . . . Would Hunter and his squad have been listed as MIA, or simply removed from the system? What about Quinlan? Only Cody – and probably General Kenobi – knew for sure where Hunter and his team had gone, and even they didn't know that the team had left Nar Shaddaa.

As far as Quinlan went, the Jedi wouldn't have bothered to look for him, not once they realized he'd gone to Malachor. . . If they were even able to track him that far.

Hunter tripped, reaching out in surprise to catch himself against Wrecker. Somehow, he'd failed to notice that he was at the top of the stairs. The team had entered the central room, and Crosshair was already heading back to their campsite. Wrecker hesitated, then trailed after him.

Hunter knelt and put both hands against the floor, conscious of Tech hovering to his left. He couldn't feel the leviathan moving at all. Maybe it had finally died.

Given their experience so far, that was probably wishful thinking on his part.

Hunter got up, brushed his gloves free of ash, and went to rejoin the others, Tech close on his heels. He paused to watch as Wrecker set Quinlan down and leaned him back against the wall; the Jedi's eyes were open, now, and he looked . . . too normal, given what had just happened.

Hunter eyed him worriedly. Quinlan's expression was neutral, and Hunter didn't trust it at all. But that shouldn't matter. They didn't need the Force to leave Trayus . . . always presuming that Zenaya allowed them to leave.

He shook his head and felt for his knife, then turned to Tech. "Do one more scan. I want to know if she's got another storm building near the Marauder."

Tech obeyed, and Hunter joined the other two in collecting their belongings from the ground and stuffing them into packs.


Quinlan listened to the tense, quiet voices around him. He could hear what they were saying; he just couldn't understand the words. He thought it was the commandos talking. Quinlan touched the floor beside him and realized that they were no longer in the Core. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten up here . . . or where exactly the others were. After a moment, though, none of those things really seemed to matter, so he stopped thinking about them.

There was motion nearby, and some more muttered conversation, but it was overlaid by Zenaya's cold voice, which kept sounding in his head. You would have made an excellent Sith.

Quinlan shifted, drawing one knee up slightly. He should be scared of the truth in her words, but he wasn't. Zenaya said he refused to use the dark side. She was wrong there. The ease with which he could use the dark side should probably have frightened him. It didn't. He just – didn't care. It was too late anyway.

Someone's hand was on his right arm. A vaguely insistent voice sounded in his ears, and Quinlan shoved the hand away.

His left forearm burned at the movement, bringing things into clearer focus, and he realized that Hunter was kneeling beside him.

"Quinlan," the sergeant said in a low voice. "We've got to leave."

He sounded so painfully earnest that Quinlan almost laughed. They couldn't leave, if Zenaya didn't want to let them. They wouldn't make it ten steps. He wondered what it was that she had planned. She was aware of all of them, and where they were . . . and that was all Quinlan knew

"Quinlan – come on!" Hunter's tone was unusually taut. "Zenaya's gone. Let's –"

"No, she's not." Quinlan tilted his head back against the wall and stared at the ceiling. "Vythia's gone."

Hunter glanced fearfully at the stairwell, then at something out of Quinlan's line of vision. "Crosshair, Wrecker. Let's go."

Hands pulled at his upper arms, tugging him to stand upright. Quinlan obeyed, his own attention focused briefly on the chasm that led down to the Core. He had gone down there without intending to. Vythia had intended to, though . . . But for some reason, she hadn't actually known she'd need Quinlan to complete her ritual.

And then Vythia had sounded so desperate, when she finished the ritual and recognized what was really happening. . .

Quinlan shivered violently and nearly walked into the wall to his left. Something had happened after he stabbed the shadowy, noncorporeal form of the Togruta woman. He stopped moving, then clenched his hands over his upper arms to erase the memory of Zenaya's ghostly embrace.

He'd stabbed her, Force knew why – he'd known it wouldn't work – and all the Togruta woman had done in return was to put her arms around him in a mocking gesture of thanks and affection. It was only at that moment, when her presence attacked him through the Force yet again, that he'd understood. He recognized who it was whom Vythia had released, and knew how Zenaya had gotten a hold over the Nautolan woman . . .

Someone prodded Quinlan in the back. He glanced up, vaguely noting that it was Wrecker, and started walking again. They were in the hall now. The Marauder was just outside, and there was no storm raging – because Zenaya had been the storm that had prevented them from leaving Trayus.

But the crystal made her retreat for a bit. He slowed again. And then she stopped the storm, so that Vythia could go back inside.

Vythia hadn't known that there was a Force-spirit hovering nearby. She'd just seen her chance and taken it, never suspecting that Zenaya was helping things work in her favor. If Hunter and Wrecker hadn't gone in after Vythia – and if Quinlan hadn't gone in after them, they wouldn't have been trapped inside again.

If they hadn't gone after her, the ritual would never have happened. Somehow, Zenaya had known, or guessed, that they would go after Vythia. She had been studying them all, ever since they'd arrived at Trayus . . . Or since they'd landed on Malachor.

No. Earlier. The presence in the Phoenix, the one Quinlan had felt while meditating when the two shuttles were in hyperspace. The whisper that had brushed against his mind when he first met Vythia. All of that – Zenaya had been present the whole time.

"I should have known," he said aloud. "I should have known!"

Someone asked a question, but Quinlan hardly noticed. A slow anger was burning at him now. Everything that had happened, everything they'd done – all the choices they'd made. None of it mattered. They'd played directly into Zenaya's hands. Maybe some of their choices hadn't even been their own. It didn't make sense for Hunter to run back into the academy after Vythia.

Why did he think of it? Why did I agree? We should have left Vythia behind. She's worse than dead now, anyway. . .

And Zenaya knew where they were. Quinlan wondered if he should reconstruct his shields and hope that it blocked her, at least a little.

No sooner had the thought occurred to him than Zenaya's presence hovered tangibly, and he felt a cool sense of scorn from outside of himself.

He froze in surprise, then tripped as someone walked into him.

"Sorry," Wrecker apologized. "Hey – you feeling okay? You keep starting and stopping."

"Fine," Quinlan mumbled. He waited for Wrecker to go past him, then pressed his hands hard against his eyes in an attempt to refocus. He had to pay attention to what was going on around him.

How long has it even been since Zenaya left the Core? Wait – where are we?

He looked up, and saw a glimmer of green-tinged light beyond the main doorway of Trayus. It was barely two hundred meters to the outside of the academy. Hunter was leading, with Crosshair and Tech a couple paces behind him, and Wrecker – who had slowed to glance back at Quinlan – just behind them.

"We're almost there!" Wrecker said, in a voice that was half-encouraging, half-hopeful.

Quinlan joined him without comment. They were almost there, and they had no guarantee that they would get out. Well, he thought cynically. Not like there's any option but to try. Not unless we want to chase Zenaya up the center. . .

Then, ten meters from the door, Hunter froze. He took off his helmet, stared through the doorway for several seconds, then turned to face the others with an expression of utter disbelief.

Crosshair and Tech shoved forward beside him, peering outside.

"Oh," said Tech.

"Guess we should have expected that," Crosshair muttered, almost numbly.

Quinlan found himself walking over to Hunter and taking a step farther. From here, he could just see the edge of the Marauder . . . and the white head and black fangs of the leviathan, which was draped over the ship.


Wrecker watched the Jedi warily, not sure he wanted to know what it was that had surprised and scared Hunter so much.

Tech told him anyway. "The leviathan is on the Marauder."

"It moved?" Wrecker demanded loudly, turning to him. "After everything we did to it?! That thing was torn in half, almost!"

"And yet it appears to have been fully healed." Tech blinked and glanced sideways, mouth quirking uneasily. "I do not know how."

"Zenaya," Hunter said. "It must have been. That's why she didn't kill us. It wasn't worth the trouble. She must have healed it and sent it to wait for us."

Wrecker moved cautiously over to Hunter and peered out. The snake was healed, just like Tech said – well, except for its missing eyes. And when it opened its mouth, he could see that its black fangs were still broken. There were weird scars along the sides of its mouth, where it had been blown open, and probably along its body, but it watched the entrance blindly.

It could attack them from a distance, even without its vision. . . and it was on the Marauder, which meant that Wrecker couldn't have used big explosives on it, even if he had any. . . which he didn't.

He turned to Hunter, waiting for a suggestion, but Hunter didn't look like he had any ideas at all. Neither did Crosshair or Tech. And Quinlan hadn't moved a muscle.

There was a massive snake out there, ready to eat them, and everyone just – stood there. Waiting. Or something.

Wrecker took a deep breath. "Okay," he said. "Do we try to get up the center before Zenaya does? Or do we try and kill it?"

"Don't be an idiot," Crosshair spat, suddenly looking angry. "We can't kill it!"

"And we're not going after Zenaya," Hunter said sharply. "That would be suicide."

"So's this," Wrecker grumbled. "We've gotta do something. Unless you want to stand around and wait for it to kill us anyway."

Hunter shook his head slowly. "No. We're not. . ." He hesitated, and Wrecker could practically see him groping about for an idea. "I don't – Cross, could you try to get through its skull?"

"With this?" Crosshair hefted his rifle almost sarcastically. "After Wrecker blew off its head and didn't kill it?"

Hunter slumped a little. "We got through the statue's eyes."

"Hm." Crosshair stepped forward. "I can hit it in the eye. Maybe a couple times. No promises once it starts moving."

Tech looked up. "Wait."

Hunter put out a hand and stopped Crosshair. "Tech? You have a better idea?"

Wrecker noticed that he was accessing the Marauder's controls.

"I have only one idea," Tech said. "I had locked the laser cannons in position before entering Trayus. I cannot adjust them from here. . . but I can fire them. If the leviathan comes a few meters forward –" He paused. "It would only need to stun and perhaps injure it. If we can get onboard, we have a chance of escape."

"It'll coil around the ship," Crosshair said.

"Yes." Tech nodded. "But I would be very much impressed if even a leviathan such as this could survive out of atmosphere, or cling to the Marauder for very long."

"Yeah," said Hunter, brightening slightly. "Even if it lives after falling off, it would burn up on reentry."

"Thank you for pointing that out." Tech fidgeted with his pistol. "Of course, there is the risk of it killing us with its mental attacks before we even take off."

"And the risk of it killing us before we reach the ship," Crosshair added.

Wrecker rubbed his head and squinted against the continued blurriness. "But if we don't do something, we're stuck here, and the leviathan can come in after us any time it wants. . ." He paused, realizing Quinlan hadn't said a word. "Uh – Quinlan? You have any other ideas?"

Quinlan simply stood where he was for a long, long moment, gazing out at the leviathan. "Yes," he said. His voice was harsh and furious.

"What?" Hunter asked.

Quinlan shoved past him and stalked over to the door, moving as easily as if he'd never been hurt. It made Wrecker uneasy, after the way he'd been dragging along for the past half-hour.

Hunter glanced at his teammates, then followed. The others fell in behind him, and climbed over the fallen masonry until they were within a couple of meters of the door.

Quinlan stood directly beneath it, staring at the bone-white leviathan, which had lifted its head to face him. It was looped around and around the Marauder, which looked small compared to its massive bulk. The leviathan's black mouth opened in a hiss, and Wrecker felt the familiar pull and twist of the sudden headache that accompanied it.

The others flinched, too, except for Quinlan. He took another step forward, reaching down and out with both arms, and then curled his fingers upward, like he was trying to lift something – and the leviathan's head moved forward.

The leviathan shifted, then snapped its jaws shut and uncoiled one loop, tossing its head back with a sound almost like a squeal as it reached down over the front of the ship.

Crosshair cringed, lifting his rifle, and this time it was Wrecker who stopped him. He didn't even know why, he just thought they'd better not distract the leviathan or Quinlan right now.

Hunter moved to stand beside Quinlan, realization flashing across his face. "Tech!"

Tech pressed a button, and the heavy forward cannons fired – three, four, five, six times, straight into the back of the leviathan's skull.

The monster went briefly limp, and Quinlan lifted his arms slowly, centimeter by centimeter, like he was struggling with a massive weight.

Wrecker stared, mouth open, as the leviathan was lifted bodily into the air – up, and up, until Quinlan stood with his head ducked and his arms above his head, and the monster was writhing slowly, two meters above the Marauder.

The headache was getting worse and worse, and Wrecker blinked hard, knowing they were running out of time.

Then, from the top of the academy, came the unmistakable sound of a shuttle's engine coming to life.

Crosshair darted forward, whipping up his rifle for a shot, but the Phoenix flew off in the opposite direction. Within seconds, the sound had faded from hearing.

Hunter let out his breath explosively, Crosshair snarled, Tech and Wrecker glanced at each other – and Quinlan relaxed. He didn't lower his arms, but it suddenly looked like he hardly had to try.

Then he shoved his hands forward, as hard as he could, and the leviathan's massive body hurtled through the air to land against the ground fifty meters away. It coiled in on itself, struggling to rise.

Then Quinlan took another step, lifted his right hand, and pushed it forward – and the monster was sent back again, this time sliding sideways into a pit of dioxis despite its visible struggles.

There was a moment of silence, followed by a distant but audible crackling of poison against scales . . . and then the piercing screams of the leviathan, from deep in the ground.

Quinlan lowered his hand and walked toward the Marauder without a second glance in the direction of the shrieking creature.