Chapter XXXIII
From the remains of the central spire, Míranda Nai-Jal and Master Yanas Illa watched as the massive tower which had once housed the Council of First Knowledge collapsed, the impact reverating across the rooftop and causing the balcony upon which Míranda stood to rumble. She struggled to maintain her footing.
"I don't sense anyone in the tower," Illa opened her eyes, "They are all here, on the rooftop."
"I'll tell the last of my commandos to join us once they're finished with the shield," Míranda agreed.
The plan seemed to be working. The Adherents were all here, on the rooftop. Míranda couldn't take her eyes off the battlefield, watching as the Jedi took cover in the ruins and moved into groups of two and three. She suspected that they were regrouping, consolidating their forces to hold off the onslaught of the Shadows and the Mandalorians. As she anticipated.
Míranda knew that Riko was down there, somewhere in the thick of the fighting. As was Tau's daughter, Jade.
Tau had made it clear that under no circumstances would he allow any permanent injury to be inflicted upon Jade, that she must be taken alive. He had given his approval for Míranda to enact the same policy towards Riko. He understood the emotional difficulty this mission caused his old friend.
"There is no chaos, there is harmony," Master Illa quoted, "We must place the greater good above all else, even if it causes us pain." From the tone of her voice, it sounded as much a harsh reminder as a sympathetic acknowledgement.
Míranda nodded. She took no pleasure in what she was doing now, but she was certain – more than anything else – that it all was for the greater good.
There is no emotion. There is peace.
The Jedi teams had all taken up positions around the remains of the fallen tower. Within the haze of dust and debris, they clashed with Shadows and squads of Mandalorians who provided fire support. It was a frantic, chaotic storm of lightsabers and rubble and dust and fire.
Riko felt numb, as if his mind was simply following protocols: survive, take cover, find Jade. He couldn't think or focus.
He had taken cover behind a pile of rubble beside Jade and Val, blasterfire ricocheting all around them. He was holding his unlit lightsaber in his hand while Jade was speaking to him and Val was firing his blaster rifle…
"Come on, you gotta focus," Jade was saying, "Stay with me Riko, stay with me, okay?"
Riko blinked. The numbness started to dissipate slightly.
"Sorry," Riko replied, "I…"
He couldn't say anything. Either words couldn't capture it, or he didn't want to describe what had happened.
Niner was gone.
"I know," Jade took his hand, "I know. We have to get through this together."
"Right," Riko replied, "Where's the shield?"
"Near the central spire!" Val yelled. He gestured to a beam of light emanating from an unfinished tower covered in scaffolding, "I don't know if we can reach it! It's too heavily guarded! The Mandalorians have too good a vantage point. We'd never make it."
"There's gotta be a way to sneak through," Jade said, "Maybe a distraction…"
"Maybe," Riko mused. He engaged his helmet comm, "Bao, do you think you can distract those Mandalorians near the central spire?"
"I'll see what I can do!" Bao replied from halfway across the tower. His voice on Riko's comms mingled with the sound of grunting and lightsabers being swung. Riko wasn't reassured.
Still, he had to try.
He reactivated his lightsaber, the fiery orange blade mirroring the fire kindling in his heart. For Niner.
The shaking ended. The rocks had all stopped moving. Save for the faint sounds of battle outside, it was now quiet in here.
The first thing Niner did was assess his surroundings. He couldn't see much through the rocks. Based on the muffled quality of the sound behind him, he might be stuck in the temple, buried under the rubble from the fallen tower.
First directive: survival. With his hands, Niner started to part the rocks, one by one, until his head poked out of the pile. With his photoreceptors, he scanned the area and confirmed that he was still inside the Jedi Temple; he hadn't reached the rooftop.
Nervous, yet determined, Niner continued to follow Directive 01. Revving his wheel, he began to feel rocks follow as he slowly pulled his way out of the pile. A faint rumbling ensued, dust fell, and Niner calculated a 30.1% probability that he would be crushed by the rocks.
He decided to keep going, continuing, until he slid down the rock pile, landing in a heap on the floor.
Rotating his wheel and moving to his full height, Niner engaged in a self-diagnostic scan. He had suffered some scratches on various parts of his body and dust had gotten into the servomotors of his arms, but he had suffered no significant damage. He estimated he was at 97% functioning capacity. That reassurance made him stop trembling and whimpering.
Now that he knew that he was unhurt, the little droid calculated his next move, and knew with 84% certainty what to do next. He engaged his internal comlink.
"Riko!" Niner said, "Can you hear me?"
Riko's fury dissipated the second he heard Niner's voice on comms.
"Niner!" Tears welled in his eyes from both dust and joy as he exclaimed, "You're alive!"
"I is here! In the temple!" Niner said, "I is unhurt!"
"Niner's alive?" Jade asked enthusiastically.
"Yeah!" Riko laughed, "He's okay!"
"Glad for this reunion," Val gestured to the central spire, "But didn't we have a mission six seconds ago?"
An idea crossed Riko's mind. One that worried him, but stuck within his mind.
"Artoo," he asked, "Where is the power source for that generator?"
"Treet-beet-deet-deet!" Artoo reported, "Beet-Deet!"
"Niner," Riko began, "The Temple's primary power core is two levels down, near the central spire. It's feeding directly into the shield generator, but it's unguarded. Do you think you can turn it off?"
Niner hesitated before answering. Riko wondered if his little brother was as anxious about this plan as he was.
"I thinks so!" Niner said affirmatively, "I can do it!"
"Great!" This plan would be a lot less risky, and cost fewer lives, "Artoo and I will guide you every step of the way. Once you're finished, make your way to the roof. I'll find you. Okay?"
"Okay," Niner sounded terrified, but excited. Riko wondered what probability Niner had calculated that he could complete this mission.
"You can do this, little brother," Riko assured him.
"Yes!" Niner replied, "I will does this!"
Artoo made his way to Riko and the group.
"Dreet-deet-breet-deet," Artoo began to list a series of directions to Niner.
"Jade!" Jenna Mar'ik yelled from a few meters away, "We need your help!"
Jade sprinted into action, igniting her lightsabers and charging the handful of Shadows that engaged Mar'ik's group.
Riko had to stay close to her. And he had to let Bao know about Asharr's possible survival.
"Guide Niner to the generator and back, Artoo," he instructed, "Stay out of sight. Don't let the enemy know what you're doing."
"Dreet-Breet!" Artoo trilled affirmatively.
"Cover me, Val!" Riko said, reigniting his lightsaber and joining Jade in the thick of the fight.
Within the cavernous corridors of the Old Temple, Niner scanned the path ahead, making sure it was completely empty.
"Okay," Niner replied nervously, "I is mostly there. Mostly there."
"Dreet-breet-deet!" Artoo assured him. The astromech was acting much kinder than usual, consoling the little droid as he embarked on this harrowing mission.
Niner audioreceptors heard movement. Someone was approaching him!
He quickly snuck behind a pillar.
"Someone is here!" Niner said at low volume.
"What?" Riko was back on the comm line, "You have to stay quiet, don't let them see you!"
You have to stay quiet. The directive stayed at the forefront of Niner's processor.
He remained motionless as a pair of Mandalorians charged down the corridor, their heavy boots impacting the floor. Both of them were twice Niner's height, and they terrified him much more than Val ever could. The little droid hugged the pillar tightly, hoping they wouldn't spot him.
"Battle's up on the roof!" one was saying, "Hurry!"
Once they ran past him, Niner let go of the pillar, feeling...relief, or exuberance? His linguistic database was still incomplete, he still didn't know which word meant what.
"They is gone," Niner whispered. He heard Riko sigh in relief over the comm line.
"Be careful," the little droid added, "They is going to the roof."
"Got it," Riko replied, "Thanks for the warning."
The corridor was quiet again. Niner heard no other significant sounds until he arrived at the control room.
The room was strangely small: a cluster of consoles surrounding a large illuminated cylinder that hummed with energy.
"I is here," Niner remarked, "It is a big glowy tube."
"Deet-beet-deet!" Artoo praised the little droid.
"Thanks you!" Niner was happy for the astromech's compliments.
"Nice work," Riko said, "Look for a console with a keypad and blue lever."
The little droid proceeded to look around the tall consoles surrounding the tube, carefully scanning each one with his photoreceptors.
"I see it!" Niner declared, eying a vertical keypad placed upon an adjustable panel. He grabbed the panel, pulling it down to reach his height.
"Great, Niner," Riko replied, "There's an access code you need to type in to deactivate the core. Artoo found it in the Temple's databanks, he'll tell you the sequence."
Artoo proceeded to rattle off the code, a complex string of numbers and letters that Niner entered as quickly as he heard it.
The screen responded by flashing the words access denied.
"It says 'access denied!'" Niner responded. He retyped the code, with no success, "I can't use it!"
"They must have changed the code," Riko mused, "That might have been what those Mandalorians were there for."
"What does I do?" Niner asked.
"Okay, Niner," Riko replied, "Plan B. Open the core's maintenance hatch. You'll have to directly overload the core to bring down the shield. Look for an access panel, like the one I opened on our way in."
"Right," Niner replied, looking around the glowing tube for some kind of indentation. He brushed his hand across the metal coating that encircled the tube, looking for an outline…
His photoreceptors suddenly detected an indentation. Niner brushed his hand on it, confirming it was some kind of panel. He looked around, discovering it was a rectangular panel, complete with a small handgrip.
It was sixty-seven-percent likely that he had found it! The droid attempted to grab the handgrip, his stubby fingers struggling to grip the handle. Niner tried again, and again, carefully sliding his fingers underneath the graspable cylinder…
His photoreceptors lit up as he finally got it. He pulled the panel open, revealing a network of circuits and wires.
"I gots it!" Niner declared, "I gots it!"
"Nice work Niner!" Riko replied, "Now look for a red cable and unplug it."
Niner quickly followed his instructions, grabbing a thick red wire and disconnecting it from its socket.
"Gots it."
"Okay. Now get a black one and do the same thing."
"Okay," Niner grabbed the black cable and unplugged that as well, "Done."
"Now here comes the dangerous part," Riko replied, "You have to plug them together."
"Together?" Niner repeated, "Seventy-percent chance they explode!"
"Niner, listen," Riko explained, "You're supposed to overload the core. This generator is ancient, the Temple's power will loop back into itself. One spark will ignite the generator, and it will slowly overload. You'll be well out of the room before that happens."
"I is scared," Niner commented, ashamed.
"It's okay, little brother," Riko assured him, "You can do this."
Niner calculated a 66% chance that this would work. Greater odds than most situations. He could do this.
"Okay," he replied nervously, "I will do this."
He plugged the two cables together. His audioreceptors sensed a different thrum from the power core. It pulsed more quickly, more erratically. His head still facing the generator, Niner swiveled the rest of his body around and began to roll at his quickest speed away from the power core as it began to emit a high-pitched whine…
Above Riko, above the battlefield, the stream of energy emanating from the central tower began to sputter and flicker, the generator struggling to supply power back to the emitter.
Riko heard a boom over the comm, indicating the core had overloaded. Above him, the shield fell apart without a stream of power, slowly dissolving until it no longer obstructed the night sky.
"Niner, are you okay?" Riko was nervous, a part of him worried that the little droid had been hurt by the core's destruction…
"I is okay!" Niner said excitedly, "I did it!"
"You did!" Riko exclaimed, "Now get back up here, little brother."
"I will be there, Riko!" Niner met Riko's enthusiasm and pride with his own, "Eighty-four percent chance I make it back!"
"We'll take those odds," Val was on the same comm line as Riko and Niner, "Emdee, get over here."
"Understood," Emdee replied, "I will be there in three minutes."
"Wait…" Riko did the math in his head. Niner was deep in the Temple's core, several levels below the rooftop…
"Niner needs more time to get up here," he panicked, "We have to wait!"
As he spoke, his thoughts turned towards Jade, and he wondered if she would use that time to slip away and hunt Asharr down.
"Just because Emdee will be here in three minutes doesn't mean she'll land that quickly," Val remarked, surveying the area with his rangefinder, "We've got fighters incoming."
Within the cockpit of the Wild Nomad, Emdee was connected to all systems at once. With two of her arms, she manned the pilot's station and flew the ship. With another two, she was engaging the Nomad's shields. With her socket-arm, she controlled the Nomad's dorsal turbolaser and ion cannons.
She was approximately forty kilometers away from the former Jedi Temple when she detected two fighters approaching the Nomad at a twenty-six degree angle, elevation fourteen meters above her, distance fifteen kilometers. Sensors identified them as TW92/stk Broadsword-class Strikefighters, variant models of the lighter interceptors that had besieged them on Nyr'itz. Jedi Starfighters.
Emdee trained the turbolaser on the nimble craft and opened fire. The strikefighters veered off, evading the spray of ion bolts and laser blasts from the Nomad's weapons, and opened fire upon the Nomad, burning new holes into its already scarred armor. Flying upwards, they veered into the sky like drexls, ready to swoop down for another pass.
Above the battlefield, the Nomad lumbered through the night sky with the grace of a scargbeetle, circling around and above the Temple as her hull was peppered by rapid blasterfire from the two pursuing Broadswords. Stray laser cannon bolts impacted the Temple spires with the same ferocity as the Mandalorian projectiles on the ground.
The broadsword pilots attacked the Nomad with the same tactics Jade used with her dual lightsabers. With each pass, they swooped in from divergent angles, dividing Emdee's focus and preventing her from bringing the Nomad's full arsenal to bear against either as their cannons gouged new wounds into the ship's thick armor.
The pilots were skilled and well-coordinated. Delving further, Jade noticed that there was a harmony between the thoughts of the two pilots, a bond she could feel in the Force. She suspected they were Master and Apprentice.
"Emdee won't be able to hit those fighters," Jade observed, "We'll have to give her some help!"
"What do you have in mind, copilot?" Val asked.
"Let's see if we can use the Force to slow them down," Jade suggested, "I'm good at moving things with my mind. Riko, you can do your thing with machines to sabotage them. We have to clear the skies for Emdee."
"I'll take point and keep the enemy off your back," Val added, "Be careful. Both of you."
"We will," Riko replied.
"Still," Val added, "Get this done. That's my ship."
Deactivating their lightsabers, Jade and Riko took cover in a stone pavilion that had partially caved in.
Riko closed his eyes and delved deep into the Force, trying to concentrate on the image of the TW92/stk Broadsword Starfighter. It was a fast, agile craft, the evolution of the older TW92a models employed by the Alliance and the Consortium. Riko tried to glean some sense of its systems, using what he remembered from his time at the Jedi Temple on Atarashi'ie to help him make sense of what he saw…
The schematics of the starfighter came to him. More than that, he perceived the motions of the gears within its complex layout in his mind as it flew. Navigating his awareness through the machine like a labyrinth, Riko couldn't help but grin – his head light with giddiness – as he felt the knobs turned to adjust the fighter's rotating wings from 180 to 245 degrees, the steering yoke turning with the fighter's course through the air, the flaps of the exhaust vents as they opened and closed to adjust to the ship's speed, the tibanna gas cycling through canisters and igniting into energy to be expelled through the cannons…
Eventually, he found the circuit he was looking for. Riko followed the twisting paths of the layout, mapping each part of the system in his mind, until he formed a complete schematic of the activation circuit. Once he had the circuit mapped out in his mind's eye, he triggered it.
Suddenly, the Broadsword's canopy gave way and the Jedi pilot found himself rocketing up in the air on his ejection seat. Beneath him, the strikefighter plummeted towards the Temple, colliding with the ground at the base of the ziggurat and leaving a trail of fire and debris in its wake.
Riko opened his eyes and sat down. The effort had drained him, it would take a few moments before his strength returned. Still, he had accomplished his goal.
Beside him, Jade extended her hand and reached out to grab the other broadsword with a giant, invisible hand. Fixing her gaze upon the nimble strikefighter, Jade watched as it spun laps around the Nomad and peppered its hull with blaster burns, waiting until it was in range of the gunship's dorsal turbolaser to catch it. Like a predator, she waited...then pounced.
Her invisible hand gripped the Broadsword like a gnat caught in a spider's web. The pilot tried to break free, pushing their fighter's engines to maximum, but it was pointless. The Broadsword was stuck. The Nomad had a clear shot.
Jade reached out and tried to feel her quarry's emotions. There was confusion, desperation...but also determination. Her eyes widened as she realized what he was about to do.
"Emdee!" She warned, "Go evasive…!"
She was too late. As the Nomad opened fire upon the frozen T-Wing, the strikefighter fired a salvo of ion torpedoes, each striking the heavy gunship's stern in succession. As the broadsword vanished in a fireball, electricity arced across the Nomad's scarred hull and burrowed into her engines, causing their blue exhaust to flicker out.
"What happened, Emdee?" Bao asked.
Around Emdee, panels flickered and alarms blared as the ship began to tilt downward. Through her interface with the ship's computer, she made sense of the damage.
"The Nomad was hit by two ion torpedoes," Emdee said, slightly worried, "Several systems have been disabled, including engines. The damage is repairable, but I'll have to land. 50 meters to impact."
"We are not losing the Nomad, Emdee," Val's vocal pitch displayed cold determination and a hint of concern, "Land her intact."
"Of course, Val," Emdee agreed. Sometimes she found his quips irritating, now she used them as a lifeline as the Nomad fell and the Temple's veranda loomed closer every minute.
The biggest problem was the Nomad's speed. The gunship was falling too fast, its speed increasing with every second as the giant hunk of metal plummeted, the landing gear would be smashed.
Making a split-second calculation, Emdee engaged the Nomad's repulsors, the antigrav system used to raise the ship into the air during takeoff, halting the plummet a mere two meters shy of the ground. The heavy vessel lurched as the ship's momentum was suddenly arrested, Emdee's view of the Temple rising upward as the repulsors struggled to adapt to the vessel's speed. However, the ship swerved down and righted itself, its remaining momentum carrying it forward at decreasing speed towards the nearest temple spire.
Val's heart seized as the Nomad scraped the edge of the tower with a sickening crunch, sending debris and dust flying across its scarred hull. However, its momentum slowed, and it came to a relatively gentle halt, some 300 meters away from Val's position. He couldn't take his eyes off the downed gunship.
The Nomad's landing gear emerged from her greblied belly and rested the vessel upon the ground. Electricity flickered across her stern, new holes had been torn in her hull, and she was covered in permacrete dust from the tower she had scraped.
Normally, Val might have been furious. However, he had seen the Nomad endure so, so much worse, that his fear gave way to relief and mild irritation. He knew his ship was okay.
"I've landed 'safely,'" Emdee declared, "I'm alright."
"Good job, Emdee," Val said, "Damage report?"
"The engines have been disabled," she responded, "The Nomad isn't flying again until they're fixed."
"Secure the Nomad!" Bao ordered over comms, "Don't let the Shadows destroy it!"
"I'm right ahead of you," Val replied, "Emdee, keep the ship sealed until we get there and blast anyone who isn't us. Self-Defense Protocol 3, Grounded Fortress Mode."
"Understood," Emdee replied.
Val looked back towards the Jedi formation.
"Riko, Artoo, Lowbacca, get over here!" He instructed, "That's my ship. Please fix it, thank you."
Dodging stray blasterfire and running through debris, Riko and Lowbacca joined Val and Jade at the ruined pavilion a short distance from the crashed Nomad.
Grabbing his macrobinoculars, Riko gave a cursory examination of the battlefield ahead. The Nomad's dorsal-mounted light turbolaser cannon was sweeping the area, while her antipersonnel gatling gun protruded from her belly, both ready to wreak havoc on anyone who dared assault the ship. Further away, at the edge of the field, Mandalorians and Jedi Shadows began to make their way towards the downed gunship…
"Spawn of a griklomn," Val grumbled, retracting his rangefinder, "We'll have to move fast. That area's open terrain, you'll have to hurry to get over there. I'll cover you."
"Right," Riko replied.
A stray rocket impacted the ground a few meters away, causing him to flinch.
"It's dangerous kid," Val placed his hand on Riko's shoulder, "But you can do it. I'll keep you covered."
"Okay," Riko took a deep breath. He glanced towards Jade. He sensed a faint tug at the edge of her mind, a subtle distraction, but her focus was on this. Riko started to hope he was wrong about Asharr.
"Urargh," Lowbacca instructed, "Ergh. Rrrraaargh!"
"He says to follow his lead," Jade translated, "He's been through this many times."
Riko trusted Jade, and he trusted the Council Master.
As he looked upon the assembled group, he discovered a wrinkle in their plan.
"Artoo, you'll have to wait here with Val," Riko said, "We'll have to move fast, you'll slow us down."
"Rrrugh," Lowbacca replied. Riko had no idea what he was saying.
"Dreet-breet," Artoo grumbled, reluctantly agreeing to whatever Lowbacca proposed.
"What are you saying, Council Master?" Riko asked.
"He has a better idea," Jade translated, flashing an amused smirk.
Riko's confusion dissipated when Lowbacca reached out with one hand and wrapped his large left arm around Artoo's frame, carrying the squealing droid in the air, sandwiched between his arm and his torso.
Jade stifled a laugh. Riko couldn't help but notice the Council Master seemed to be experiencing no difficulty with this task. He suspected the Wookiee was using the Force to augment his strength.
"Alright," Val trained his rifle on the battlefield, "Ready."
Riko, Jade, and Lowbacca all ignited their lightsabers.
"Go!" Jade yelled.
Riko left the cover of the pavilion behind and ran into the open terrace that stood between him and the Nomad. With Lowbacca leading the way – carrying Artoo in one arm and his lightsaber in the other – and Jade by his side, Riko batted aside blaster bolts as they came, sprinting towards the Nomad with the greatest speed he had ever conjured. Soon, they were almost there…
"Get down!" Jade yelled, hugging Riko and pulling him back as a series of missiles flew into the air.
As she and Riko fell to the floor, Jade extended her hand, quickly redirecting the projectiles upward into the nearby tower. As his body impacted against Jade's and he fell to the ground, Riko saw the missiles explode against the spire in a crescendo of flame, raining large chunks of rubble to the floor, scattering debris and dust that clogged Riko's eyes.
Jade quickly moved to her feet, and grabbed Riko's hand, pulling him up. Riko quickly reignited his lightsaber as the Mandalorians split into two squads: one advancing on Lowbacca, and the second focusing their weapons on him and Jade.
"Run!" Jade yelled, only for the Mandalorians to throw grenades. Just as Jade extended her hand to adjust the closest grenade's trajectory, it detonated in her face.
Calling on the Force, Jade instinctively wrapped herself in a cocoon to shield herself from the shockwave, but the impact still sent tremors through her body and threw her to the ground. The sounds of the universe were muted by a ringing within her ears.
Dazed, she saw Riko leap into action against the Mandalorians, turning their attention away from her. He fought valiantly, using his lightsaber and some kind of hand-to-hand combat similar to the Mandalorians' own to keep them at bay. He was impressive, even disabling one of his opponents. But he couldn't hold them off for long, and a flurry of punches to the stomach and head knocked him to the ground.
Rage and fury cleared away Jade's disorientation. The storm within her grew, emotion and power filling her to the brim. She lay motionless on the ground, feigning unconsciousness as one of the Mandalorians approached her, his red T-visor staring at her face…
She extended her hand, and a storm of lightning spilled from her fingertips and engulfed the Mandalorian, who screamed in agony as his skeleton flashed, his beskar armor glowing orange as it melted. He collapsed to the ground, a charred husk.
Jade leapt to her feet, calling both of her lightsabers back to her hands. Extending her hands, she unleashed a wave of telekinetic energy, blasting them all back.
Engaging their jetpacks, her enemies rose into the air, preventing themselves from impacting the wall. Running to Riko's side, Jade readied herself for their attacks. In the corner of her eye, she saw Val advancing towards the group, poised to unleash a spray of rapid-fire on their enemies. Nearby, Lowbacca killed the last of the Mandalorians engaging him and roared with enough aggression to leave Jade unsettled, his lightsaber casting his fierce features in an intimidating pallor.
But the Mandalorians hesitated. One of them raised their hand to their helmet, and nodded affirmingly. They flew off towards the heat of the battle near the fallen tower.
Jade was confused, relieved, but still suspicious. Still alert, she turned towards Riko, who was slowly moving to his feet.
"Kid!" Val said, "You okay?"
"I…" Riko winced, unable to finish his sentence. Jade examined him closely. He looked bad. A purplish bruise covered his cheek, his forehead and lips were bleeding, and one of his eyes was blackened. Based on how he was clutching his chest, Jade guessed he had bruised – possibly even broken – ribs.
"You're hurt pretty bad," Jade said. Considering that Riko had been pummeled by beskar gauntlets, he was lucky to be alive.
"Come on, copilot!" Val ordered, "Do your healing thing."
"Rrrrugh," Lowbacca agreed, holding his lightsaber defensively.
"Okay," Jade sighed. She hadn't used her healing abilities in a while, not since Dromund Kaas. Still, she remembered how to use her gifts, they were an innate part of her.
Delving deep into the Force, Jade sensed the details of Riko's injuries, the tears that had been made in his flesh. Thankfully, they were not as severe as she initially assumed, but Riko would need help to return to fighting strength.
She decided to heal the worst of his injuries: bruising on his ribs and a hairline fracture on his skull. She extended her hands over Riko's stomach and forehead and poured the Force into the wounds, waiting for the warm feeling of the healing energies to flow through her.
Only it didn't come. Riko's injuries weren't healing.
Her eyes widening, Jade tried harder, attempting to generate more energy, but the source she needed wasn't there.
Jade couldn't heal Riko.
"Rrraaaarrrrgghh!" Lowbacca warned. A pair of Shadows were approaching.
"We have incoming, copilot!" Val said, "What's wrong?"
"I…" Jade was speechless, "I don't know, my powers aren't working!"
She struggled to contain her panic. Something was very wrong. Jade didn't understand it: she could still feel the Force, that wasn't the problem, but her ability to heal had been sapped away.
"What do you mean?" Val's aura flashed with distress, "What's wrong?"
"I don't know!" Jade said, "Let's get him to Emdee, come on!"
Before she could start, she saw a pair of hooded figures approaching, igniting their azure and violet lightsabers.
"Rrraarrrgh!" Lowbacca ordered, gesturing towards the Nomad as he raised his lightsaber to engage the Shadows.
The Shadow with the violet lightsaber raised his hand and unleashed a powerful telekinetic burst, throwing the entire group back. Jade landed in a heap several meters away from Riko. Fueled by adrenaline, anger, and panic, she quickly returned to her feet and rushed to Riko's side, igniting her lightsabers. As Violet-blade clashed with Lowbacca, Azure-blade slowly advanced towards Riko and Jade.
Beside her, Riko slowly tried to rise to his feet, wincing and groaning.
"Stay down," Jade asked. Seeing him hurt this badly was heartbreaking.
"I can still fight," Riko insisted, igniting his lightsaber. He held the blade weakly. In his condition, he wouldn't last long in a fight…
Suddenly, the roar of rocket jets filled the air, and the Shadow turned to meet an unexpected threat.
Propelled by a jetpack he had taken from one of the dead Mandalorians, Val soared as quickly as he could towards the Shadow with the azure lightsaber. The Shadow turned to face him, only for his eyes to widen as Val extended his arms. Val was acting solely on split-second thinking and instinct, one single thought burning away all other concerns.
Don't hurt my kid.
He collided with the Shadow, grabbing him by the biceps and dragging him across the duracrete. The impact of the collision and subsequent drag slowed Val's momentum, and soon both he and the Shadow tumbled to the ground, landing several meters apart from one another.
Wincing at the slight hints of pain all over his body that were clearly bruises, Val yelled, "Get Riko to the Nomad! Go!"
Jade hesitated, clearly as dumbfounded as the Shadow had been. As he rose to his feet, Val gestured her to leave. Every second she spent waiting was a second wasted.
She finally heeded his warning, deactivating one of her lightsabers and supporting Riko with her free hand, leading him towards the nearby gunship.
Sighing in relief, Val turned towards the Shadow, who had risen to his feet and reignited his lightsaber. He eyed his opponent carefully, noting Val's stance. He saw the segmented armor and glowing T-visor of a Mandalorian, a calculating warrior, a descendant of a millennia-old culture whose greatest enemies had been the Jedi and had based much of their entire fighting style around a Jedi's weaknesses. Val assumed he had learned those techniques fighting alongside Mandalorians, and studied their tactics.
But Val was no master of anti-Jedi fighting disciplines; those arts had been rarer amongst the Mandalorians in the days before he had been exiled. He didn't wear true beskar armor, and he didn't fight like a Mandalorian Jedi hunter did. But he had learned much from Bao, the greatest Jedi swordmaster of this age, about how a Jedi would fight a Mandalorian.
Val charged forth, running at full speed. The Shadow swung his lightsaber towards Val's neck. Val grabbed his wrist, the two struggling before the Jedi broke off, his redirected blade glancing against the phirk alloy of Val's helmet, leaving a fading orange line.
The Shadow then lowered his lightsaber to jab the blade into one of the gaps of Val's armor. Val spotted this and moved his fist towards his opponent's torso. The Shadow stepped back to avoid the punch, the tip of his blade wavered, and Val let the blade impact the alloy vambrace on his left arm.
Though his lightsaber was batted back, the Shadow didn't relent and swung his saber towards Val's neck, intending to decapitate him. Only, the blade never touched Val's neck. The blade flickered erratically before extinguishing, leaving the shocked Shadow with the disabled hilt.
Although Imperial Knights were stuck-up militarists with none of the Jedi's individuality, they did have the occasional good idea – such as their cortosis gauntlets, one of which Val now wore.
Val charged towards the Shadow and unleashed a flurry of punches, jabs, and strikes upon his opponent. Tossing the hilt aside, the Shadow met Val's fists with his own, his stalwart defense a match for Val's calculated ferocity. The two engaged in a stalemate of blocked punches and strikes, neither striking another until Val whacked the Shadow's head with his own, leaving him staggered. Another punch to the cheek sent him reeling, a strike to the torso left him doubled over…
Then the Shadow raised his hand, and Val was thrown back, tossed through the air and landing on the duracrete floor in a heap.
Slowly moving to his feet, the Shadow extended his hand, and emerald lightning sprouted from his fingertips, the bolts crackling through the air towards Val.
Beneath his helmet, Val screamed as needles of white-hot pain stabbed their way into his body and arced through his muscles, burning everything they came across.
In desperation, he reached towards his holster, grabbing the one weapon anyone with common sense knew not to use against Jedi.
The Shadow loomed over him. Val drew his blaster pistol and fired. The lightning faded as the Shadow grew stiff, his eyes wide as he saw the smoking blaster hole on his chest. He toppled to the ground, dead.
Val sighed, both relieved and exhausted. Echoes of the pain still rippled all across his body, faded to a dull throb. Through his visor, he saw traces of smoke, and was sure he would have smelled it if it weren't for his helmet's filtration systems. His skin and clothing were singed, the armor plates uncomfortably warm. He felt like an overcooked gornt steak.
"Are you alright, Val?" Emdee spoke through his comms.
"Still alive, Emdee," Val gingerly moved to his knees, assessing his body. No sign of any major injuries.
He rose to his feet, wincing slightly. A few meters away, Lowbacca struck down his violet saber-wielding opponent.
"Is Riko okay?" Val asked.
"Riko's injuries aren't life-threatening," Emdee replied, "I am tending to them right now, and I should be able to heal the worst of them within minutes. He'll be fine.
However," she added in a familiar, assertive tone that only slightly eclipsed Val's relief, "As I am preoccupied, please fix your ship, Val. Just because I have ten limbs doesn't mean I can handle every job you assign me at once."
Val might have normally grumbled jokingly. Now, he just sighed in weary relief.
With Val and Lowbacca now taking watch, Jade sprinted back into the medbay, unable to leave Riko's side for a second longer.
"Hold still," Emdee was commanding gently as Riko twitched slightly. He did as instructed. Jade gently took Riko's hand, further relaxing him.
Within minutes, Emdee finished: a large bacta bandage now covered Riko's bruised chest beneath his shirt, and smaller ones covered the cut on his forehead and his bruised cheek.
"Am I out of the battle?" he asked, "Can I still fight?"
"I wouldn't recommend it," Emdee answered, "The bruised rib will impede your movement, even with the painkiller. However, you will be capable of fighting, repairing, and whatever else you need to do. Still, you should wait at least two minutes, let the bacta and healing stims do their work."
Jade's relief was tempered by her panic over the loss of her own healing abilities. Something had gone wrong, her powers weren't working for a reason.
"What happened to your healing powers?" Riko asked, "Are you okay?"
"I don't know," Jade replied.
She guessed it was related to her mental scars. The last time she had used her powers, she had just been freed from Asharr's grasp and had to heal her own wounded arm and later assist with Bao's recovery. Perhaps the trauma of it all had drained her.
As Riko gingerly moved into a seating position, Jade realized there was something more to his question, beyond simple concerns over her healing abilities. Something troubled Riko. As they had ran towards the crashed Nomad and he had sat while Emdee attended to his injuries, Jade could tell that something was on his mind. Something to do with her.
"There's something else," she asked, "What's wrong?"
"Jade," Riko's expression was grave, "I think I know what's going on. Asharr's alive, isn't she?"
Jade froze. A number of emotions warred within her, guilt and frustration rivaling for most prominent.
"I'm sorry Riko," Jade replied, "I can't leave while the battle is still going on, but she is alive, and she's here. If I do nothing, there's no telling what kind of damage she could do. The people she's possessed are still wandering around the galaxy, she has to be stopped."
Paralyzed with indecision, Riko said nothing. Jade knew this wouldn't be easy to explain, but to actually see his doubt...
"Why didn't you tell me?" Riko asked, "Or anyone else? You don't have to take on Asharr alone, we can do this together."
Riko's question stunned her. Jade hadn't even considered that question.
"I can't," she eventually said, "You know what Asharr did to me, more than anyone else. I can't let that happen to you."
"I'm willing to take that risk," Riko said.
She couldn't help but sense something beneath Riko's words. Concern. Doubt.
"You don't think I can do this," Jade concluded. Anger began to stir at the top of her emotional storm.
"Jade, haven't you been noticing what you've been doing?" Riko declared, "This isn't you."
"No!" Jade replied, "You of all people should understand what Asharr did to me! What she did to all her victims! She has to be stopped! And I have to do it, because I know what she's capable of!"
In that moment, Jade felt the dark being's presence tug at the edge of her soul. She knew where to find Asharr, where she was within the Temple. She knew that the Nomad could be fixed, that Bao and Val could lead the Jedi to safety without her. And she knew that she couldn't rely on anyone, even Riko, to support her.
"Jade," Riko pleaded, "Whatever you do, please…don't let it turn you into someone you aren't."
"I'm sorry," Jade turned away and sprinted towards the nearest tower. Forcing herself to tune out Riko's words, she ran back into the Temple to complete her mission once and for all.
"Bao, Jade's gone back into the Temple," Riko's words startled Bao as he clashed blades with a Shadow in the heat of the battle. Cutting down his opponent, he dove for cover and caught his breath before answering.
"Why is she doing this?" Bao asked, worried, "What happened?"
"Jade's not herself. Someone's been manipulating her. Bao, Asharr is alive."
The memory of Asharr being electrocuted by a vengeful Tau Skywalker flashed before Bao's eyes. Whether it was compassion or a need for information that compelled Tau to spare that monster, Bao would never know.
"Lowbacca, Artoo and Emdee are fixing up the Nomad," Riko declared, "I'm going after Jade. I have to get to her before she finds Asharr."
"No!" Bao replied, "Don't go alone. You don't know what you're up against."
"I'll go with him," Val said, adding reluctantly, "Besides, we need to get Niner."
"We can handle this, Master," Riko finished.
Bao sighed. Looking around, he had to acknowledge that he couldn't spare any other Jedi from the battlefield right now.
"Find Jade before she reaches Asharr," Bao instructed, "If Asharr is alive, we shall deal with her later. Now, it is important to rescue Jade."
"Acknowledged," Riko replied. He sounded as determined as the moment he had confronted his father.
"May the Force be with you, Riko," Bao replied.
"And you, Master."
Wishing his apprentice survival and success, Bao raised his lightsaber and leapt back into the fray.