Chapter XV

Bridge, Wild Nomad

"Riko?" Niner asked, "Is you there? Artoo? Jade? Val?" He and Bao were once again met with static.

"Still nothing," Niner lamented, his eyes fixed upon the comm speaker.

Bao hissed in frustration, suppressing the urge to bang his fist on the console. Calming himself, he tried to reach out with the Force, attempting to find the clockwork aura of Riko, or the roiling storm that was Jade's.

He only sensed a warped aura from the temple, as if Riko and the others were hidden by some sort of cloak...or shadow.

"They're in trouble," Bao whispered.

Bao activated the ship's intercom.

"Emdee! Get to the bridge!" Bao ordered, "Stand by to lift off!"
"Right!" Niner replied.

As the little droid engaged the ship's engines, Bao ran out of the cockpit, making his way to the boarding ramp.

As soon as he proceeded down the ramp, he sensed a new presence in Nyr'itz's strange, ethereal ambience.

Bao ducked as a lightsaber ignited, the blade grazing the scales on his back with a white-hot caress. He turned his duck into a roll, retreating three meters from his opponent. Returning to his feet, his back stinging, Bao turned to face his foe.

Staring back at the Jedi Knight was a hooded figure clad in a black cloak trimmed with white. He was armed with an azure lightsaber held aggressively in a Form V stance, readying himself for another pass.

Bao prepared to meet it.

The Ruined Catacombs

"We only ask that you surrender," the Shadow, a male of a species that Jade couldn't determine, armed with a blue-white saber, declared.
Riko turned away from Jade and moved towards the Shadow. He and Val faced down their opponent.

"Why are you tracking us?" Riko asked.
"Our mission is to find all Force-users and show them the path of balance."

"We've been framed," Riko began, "We weren't the ones who betrayed…"
"The Old Jedi have caused irreparable damage to the Balance," the Shadow responded, "Unless they repent, another war will come."

"Does the rest of the Order know about this?"
"No," the Shadow explained, "Some evils are necessary."
Jade looked at the Mandalorian commandos. The two of them were blockading the corridor, trapping the team here. Riko always came up with clever solutions, Jade wondered if she could do the same here…

"Please," Riko pleaded, "I don't want to fight you. We're both Jedi. We shouldn't have to…"
"You are a threat to the Balance," the Shadow responded coldly, "If you do not repent, we will have to end you."

Save them…

Jade closed her eyes and sought out her pain, her anger. It was there, pulsing with life, throbbing…

Suddenly, both Mandalorians started clutching their throats, dropping their weapons and falling to the floor, gagging.

The Shadow swung his lightsaber. Riko ignited his weapon and parried the Shadow's icy blade with his ember one. Val took out his pistol and started blasting. The Shadow deflected all of Val's blasts back, one of them even hitting against Val's armor.

Riko quickly looked back. The commandos had collapsed to the floor, both dead.

Val's pistol was knocked out of his hand as Jade grabbed her saber and ignited its familiar green blade. She extended her hand and pushed the Shadow back, staggering him.

Riko took advantage of the opening she created, and swung his saber. The Shadow caught his blade. Riko moved back, parrying the Shadow's saber.

The Shadow sped up his strikes; Riko could barely hold them off. Jade stepped in and swung; the Shadow was able to catch both of their blades. He kicked Jade before Force-pushing both her and Val back against the wall.

As Riko angled his blade downward, the Shadow caught him in a bladelock. He pushed, weakening Riko's hold, Riko's own blade moving closer to his body. Riko tried to hold him back, but he heard a hiss as his ember blade started to burn into the cloth of his jacket.

Concealing his panic, Riko evaluated his options. He could probably step back, but that would leave him vulnerable. Unless...

Riko quickly glanced up. His pommel...his second emitter... was pointed directly upward.

Stepping back, Riko moved to his knees as he ignited his saber's second blade, keeping his saber level above his head as he quickly swung it through his opponent's body.

The Shadow collapsed to the floor.

Riko panted, both blades of his saber alit, shocked at his handiwork. He shined the blade down towards the Shadow's hooded head, surprised to see that he was wearing a scarf and goggles over his face…

His remaining hand was still moving. His fist was tightening…

Riko heard the sound of stone cracking.

"The ceiling!" Val declared as the tunnel started to shake.

Riko glanced behind him. Dust and pebbles began to fall from the ceiling as the ancient stone fractured and began to give way.

The entrance to the corridor was falling.
"Come on!" Val declared.

"I'm not leaving Artoo!" Riko ordered.

"I'm not leaving you," Val grabbed Riko's arm.

"No!" Riko shook off Val's arm.

"Get Bao! Get help!" He ordered.

Val looked towards the collapsing exit. He was suddenly pushed back through the air.

The ceiling collapsed, separating Val from the others behind a massive pile of rubble.

As the dust settled, Riko turned to Jade.

"I didn't want you to be alone down here," Jade explained.

Riko ran towards the rubble.

"Can you hear me Val?"

"Barely!" Val's voice, muffled, made it through the rocks.

"Get Bao!" Riko shouted, "We'll try to find a way through."
Val was silent. For a brief moment.

"Don't ever do that again, kid."

Val presumably left to comm for help.

"Riko, look," Jade gestured towards the ground. The Shadow's body was gone.

Gritting his teeth, Riko turned back towards Jade.

"Can you shift some of the rock out of the way?"

"I think so."

"Okay."

"Okay…"
Jade took a deep breath, trembling.

"Jade," Riko reluctantly asked, "How much do you remember? From that day?"

Jade was silent, her breath coming off a little rattled, still shaking.

"Just flashes," Jade admitted, "I kept trying to bury it. But...there's a voice in my head...it always digs them up. The parts that I do remember…"
She took a deep breath again.

"I'm here," Riko took her hand, "You can tell me."

"Asharr was standing over me, I realized what she was going to do...then it's you getting me out of there. Everything else is fractured."

Jade paused. She then said, "What are we doing? You should fix Artoo."

"Right."

As Riko opened the power systems on his friend, he glanced repeatedly towards her, noticing that she was rubbing her wristband with her free hand.

They had to get out of here as soon as possible.

Bao adjusted his footwork as he prepared for his opponent's attack, scanning his enemy's stance and calculating his response.

The masked warrior swung. Bao dodged his blade, grabbed his wrist, and bit into the Shadow's sword arm. The Shadow cried out in pain, and lashed out with the Force. Bao was thrown back towards the Nomad, impacting its hull and landing on his feet.

Wincing from the pain on his back, Bao readied himself for another pass, his throat rattling.

The Shadow glanced at his bloodied wrist, transferring his saber to his other hand.

He twirled his lightsaber a fraction less efficiently than in his other hand. Bao had disabled his opponent's sword arm.

The Shadow charged. Bao ducked and unleashed a powerful Force push that slammed the Shadow into the Temple wall, dazing his opponent knocking his lightsaber falling from his hand.

Bao extended his hand, and the saber flew through the air towards him.

The Shadow reached out to pull his weapon back to him. The saber halted in midair, mere inches from Bao's grasp.

Bao moved forward and grasped the suspended hilt. It was too small, only fitting in one of his manus.

The Shadow extended his other hand, small jolts of electricity flickering on his fingertips. A storm of lightning extended from his fingertips, reaching to engulf the Jedi Knight. Bao angled the saber, catching the lightning, just barely able to maintain his grip.

He knew what he had to do.

Bao moved his feet off the ground and let the saber drag him towards the Shadow. The lightning began to burn against his scales and inflict spikes of pain in his body, but he held his grip. Bao sensed fear and shock in his opponent as he realized what Bao was doing, but it was too late.

The Trandoshan opened his jaw.

"Okay," Riko said, his head buried in Artoo's circuits, "I just need to plug this in..."

As Riko wrapped up his work jumpstarting Artoo, Jade used the Force to move yet another boulder out of the way,

With another chunk of rubble removed, the pile shifted, additional rocks, boulders, and sediment spilling from the remains of the ceiling, stirring up dust. Jade's eyes watered, and she started coughing. She grabbed a water capsule from her belt and drank.

Swallowing, she used the Force to brush the dust aside as she looked back at the rubble blocking the exit.

"We can't go back the way we came," Jade explained, "We'll have to find another way out."

"Really?" Riko asked, turning away from his deactivated friend.

"The tunnel's collapsed. Whenever I try to shift it, more rubble accumulates. There's no chance."

"Okay," Riko breathed deeply, then started coughing.

"Water?" he asked, both his hands buried in Artoo's chassis.

Jade grabbed his bottle from the side of his backpack and opened it, holding it to her friend's lips. Riko opened his mouth and gulped it down. Jade turned it away as Riko swallowed. She used the Force to push the dust away, allowing them both to breathe with greater ease.

"Thanks," Riko said gratefully, "Sorry that…"
"I know," Jade responded, "Something something Artoo repair."

"Well, now I've finished up with the...something," Riko said with an attempt at mirth.

Jade barely managed a smile.

"Okay," Riko turned back to his work, "I should be ready...now."

Running lights filtered across Artoo's body as the droid presumably powered back up.

The droid's sensor eye lit up.

"Dwee-dwee-deet-breet-deet!"

"Hey Artoo!" Riko smiled, "You feeling okay?"

"Dweet-dweeo. Bweet-deet-deet-beet?"

"We're stuck here, we need to find another way out…"

Jade turned away from her companions and looked ahead at the tunnel.

The only light they had was their lightsabers, Artoo's flashlight, and the vines. Even their illumination barely revealed what lay ahead of them. Whatever had called to her was waiting, hiding in the shadows.