Chapter 10

Tillisk Tafo raged. The stink of ozone from the exchange of blaster fire clung to his white tunic and scratched at the back of his throat. He yanked the comlink from his belt and snapped orders, then pressed himself against the wall inside his office, afraid to move. He'd seen Ruatha leading a squad of her troopers toward the data vault, but the guards he'd taken with him had been overpowered so easily…

By a Rebel and a traitor! He allowed himself a feral, impotent scream for an instant before he regained mastery of his emotions. Until he heard the all-clear signal he wouldn't feel safe. The fatal determination he saw in the rebel's eyes haunted his recollection. Tafo shivered involuntarily. That imposter who'd posed as the researcher, Oktos, had nearly sliced him in half with his lightsaber. Tafo wasn't even sure how the man had gotten hold of it. He distinctly recalled having tucked it securely into his belt. He could still feel the searing heat of its blazing amber blade as it flicked near his face during the melee. It made his blood freeze to realize how close he'd been to becoming a corpse. A centimeter or two closer and that blade would have...

They would all die for their insolence, every last one of them. The comlink traffic was little more than incoherent chaos. The explosions outside only reinforced that. Tafo shouted into the microphone again. "Where is my ESCORT?!"

"Fifteen seconds, Director," replied a man's voice, laced with an anxious edge. Three armed troops in dark breastplates appeared at the end of the corridor and sprinted to his office door. Tafo straightened and forced a bland expression. He wiped a trickle of nervous sweat from his cheek, then opened the door and strode out purposefully. "Andors and Falk in front. Teller, watch our backs," he ordered.

"Where to, Director?" asked Falk. Her knuckles were white against the black grip of her blaster.

"Just do your job, Falk!" They walked back to the lift and Tafo shoved his code cylinder into the port, then pressed a sequence of keys on the panel. The lift descended quickly to a sub-level far underground. The door whooshed opened onto a dark, twisting tunnel. At the end they emerged into a sterile expanse. Two big kyber crystals sat in their adjustment frames, ready to be installed into their turbolaser assemblies. Toma Orras directed the work of a handful of techs and droids.

Tafo snapped his gloved fingers at her. "Orras! Come with me." he angled toward the concealed panel in the wall and activated it. Falk and Andors exchanged furtive glances. The doors opened onto the repulsor tubecar. "Get in," Tafo ordered.

"Where are we going, Director?" Orras inquired. Her flat, emotionless tone contrasted with her concerned look.

The car accelerated as soon as they took their seats on the benches. Tafo turned to the troops. "You're all rated for gunnery?" He received 'yessirs' from each of them. "Good." he snapped, then fixed his gaze on the engineer. "We're going to pursue a Rebel vessel that has attacked the base."

"That sounds like a job for the Navy, Director," Orras intoned.

"This will be an operational use of the enhanced KX-twenty-nine, Orras. I want you onboard to supervise."

"Me, sir? I'm not a—"

"Save it, Orras! You serve the Empire. Act like it!"

The woman's face blanched but she acknowledged with a single nod. She sat stiffly on the bench and wrung her hands.

Tafo gripped the top flap of his polished leather holster as the tube car decelerated. He couldn't trust any of the stormtroopers they'd secreted in the subterranean facility. Why had he been so stupid as to let Ruatha manage the troops? He'd believed the lies she told him about the importance of devoting all of his attention to the mining and manufacturing operations. "My genius!" he scoffed, then scowled at the others in the car. He'd let himself be caught out.

The car door opened and he stalked out, nearly striking his head on the top of the door. The troops and Orras followed, looking wide-eyed at the warship sitting in the hangar with the huge turbolaser grafted to its dorsal hull. Lieutenant Braxx stood by the door and saluted sharply. Tafo didn't bother returning it. "The base is under attack. Prep the Kantorius for immediate departure," he snapped.

Braxx looked alarmed for a second. "Of course, Director," answered the young officer, falling into step beside Tafo. The director's short legs nevertheless carried him across the permacrete toward the Imperial corvette at an angry pace. "Will Adjutant Ruatha be joining us, sir?"

That woman could rot in a swamp for all he cared. "The Adjutant is… directing the defense of the base. We will pursue the attackers and destroy them." Tafo turned his head sharply. His eyes bored into the lieutenant. "Status of the weapon."

"Operational, sir," Braxx said smartly, "though our earlier tests consumed most of our booster crystals."

"How many remain onboard?" They reached the top of the boarding ramp. A technician closed it behind them while they turned down the dark-walled corridor toward the lift.

"Eight, sir."

"More than enough for one ship," snapped the director. The lift arrived and the two men stepped inside. Tafo addressed the others. "Falk, Andors, Teller, you will crew the forward turrets. Orras, you will oversee the operation of the primary weapon." The lift doors closed, whisking the director away. The guards and engineer shared uncertain looks for a moment, then went their separate ways.

Tafo exited the lift onto the bridge. He was as satisfied as he could be under the circumstances, to see that the skeleton crew were at their stations. "Status!" he barked.

Braxx consulted the display at his station. "Five minutes to launch, Director."

"Do it in three, Lieutenant."

"But sir, the automated systems won't—"

"Three minutes, Mister Braxx." repeated Tafo through gritted teeth. He could hope Ruatha had been killed in the chaos that enveloped Rho-277 when those detestable Rebels attacked. But he wasn't stupid enough to believe that. Ruatha was a survivor if she was anything— her miraculous escape from the fiasco on Raxus was proof of that. Never mind that her entire section had been wiped out covering her retreat.

Her first move would be to do just what he'd done, head for the Kantorius. He needed to be off the ground by the time she arrived. Once he had destroyed the Rebels' ship and reduced them all to bones and ash, he'd reorganize base security top to bottom. Order needed to be restored. The workers wouldn't like it, but he'd passed the point of caring about that.

"Show me Rho Two-Seven-Seven," he ordered. The tech tapped at her station's controls. The viewscreen flashed black, then lit up with scenes from the base's security feeds. There was a smoking, debris-strewn hole where the data vault had been, and another crater nearby, surrounded by dead and wounded stormtroopers. Other troops and security forces fanned out across the base. Two TIE fighters flew overhead for a second before they shot out of frame.

Tillisk's face froze in pale horror for a second. The data vault, years of painstaking research, prototyping, and leading-edge design work. The pursuit of a lifetime, reduced to rubble and flame. Fury replaced horror. The death that awaited the Rebels at his hands would not even begin to compensate for the damage they'd done.

The viewpoint changed. The base's quad-laser turrets showed extensive damage and its missile battery was nothing more than twisted wreckage. The all-important shield generator that protected Rho-277 was aflame. Its blasted generator casing looked like a rank of Fasemian snail-crabs that had had their shells shattered.

He snarled and looked at the chrono display over the expansive viewscreen. "That's enough," he ordered, slicing his hand through the air. The technician cut the feed. "Time?"

"Ninety seconds, sir," Braxx answered at his station.

"Open the hangar."

"Aye, sir," said the pilot from his station in the control pit beneath Tillisk's feet. Overhead the big roof halves slid aside, revealing a sliver of pre-dawn sky that grew wider by the second.

"Director Tafo?" Braxx spoke up from the station nearby.

"What is it, Braxx?"

"We'll need the command codes in order to launch, sir."

Tafo opened his mouth to censure the impudent officer, but he realized the man was right. He went to the console, inserted his code cylinder into the scomp port and punched the keys. "Launch as soon as the hangar opens, Braxx. We'll complete system startup on the way to orbit."

"Sir?"

"We're losing time, Braxx. Every second we sit on the ground is a second that band of brigands slips farther out of my grasp!"

"Yessir," Braxx said. He spoke into his headset, issuing hurried commands to the ship's crew as he adjusted the controls on his command console.

An alarm tone sounded. "What is that, Morse?"

The sensor tech looked up from her station in the control pit. "Hatch warning, sir. The starboard boarding ramp has been deployed."

"Show me!" Tafo commanded. A display screen flashed on, showing the hangar floor. The long ramp had just finished extending. A woman wearing the white tunic and trousers of the Imperial Security Bureau trod up the ramp. "Ruatha." The word dripped venom. Somehow she'd managed to evade all of the tumult and destruction. Two stormtroopers accompanied her.

"Helm, as soon as the ramp is closed, bring repulsors to seventy percent and steer a departure vector for orbit." Braxx received a brief acknowledgment. A few seconds later the corvette shifted underfoot and lifted toward the lightening sky.

Tafo regretted not having brought his troopers with him. He unsnapped his holster but left the compact blaster where it was. He turned to face the doors just as they slid open.

Ruatha strode in, wearing a harried look. Her white tunic was smudged with grass and dirt stains, and Tafo saw what might have been a streak of drying blood on it as well. Her hair looked like it had been hastily tucked back. Tafo allowed himself an inward smile. She looked rattled. Despite that, she fixed him with an ugly expression.

"Ruatha. How fortunate you were able to join us."

"Yes," she answered, more of a hissing noise than a word. "No thanks to—"

"Quite. The prisoners' escape and the damage they've caused will be punished most severely." He snapped at the two stormtroopers who'd accompanied her. "You two. Report to Lead Engineer Orras in the primary weapon control center. She can use additional personnel."

"Ma'am?" said one of the troopers.

Vaniel considered for an instant before flipping her hand. "Go." She walked over to Tafo, hiding her loathing behind a tight façade. In a low voice she said, "You're finished, Director." In a louder tone, she announced, "It's fortunate I arrived in time. You're in pursuit of the Rebel ship, are you not? My naval combat experience will prove useful, don't you agree, Director?"

Her glaring eyes bored into him. It was true she'd commanded ships in combat before, a claim he couldn't make." Still... "It's just some rabble. We'll destroy them soon enough."

"Just rabble," she responded curtly, "who disrupted our entire operation, blew up the data vault, killed a platoon of troops, and destroyed the base's defenses. That 'rabble'?"

Tillisk shrunk a little under her withering stare. "Well. They exploited—"

Now it was her turn to interrupt. "Weakness in your security plan. That's what they exploited, Director." She shot a glance at Braxx, who looked quickly away, then back at Tafo. "I'm sure you'll agree that I'm the correct choice to lead our response to this outrage against the Emperor."

Braxx and the other officers on the bridge stared stiffly ahead. None of them had any wish to line up on either side of the conflict between the two.

Tafo closed his mouth, his fleshy jowls shaking a little. After a moment he said, "Very well, Adjutant, I'm delegating command to you. For the time being."

Ruatha looked even more severe in victory. She tucked her hands behind her back. "Lieutenant, begin charging weapons. TIEs on standby. As soon as we clear atmosphere, begin full sensor sweeps. The Rebels are in two ships, a light freighter and a hijacked Striker." She wore a decidedly sour look. "Two of our fighters are in pursuit. Communications officer, make contact with our fighters and coordinate a tactical approach vector. Then contact Engineer Orras, instruct her to power up the reactor for the KV Twenty-nine and load a booster crystal. We will strike the Rebel vessel as soon as it is in range of our primary weapon. A single shot should be more than sufficient to destroy their freighter, but be prepared for follow-ups. Full drives, helm. Get us into orbit immediately."

Tafo stood behind Ruatha and watched her intently. He decided to let her fight the rebels while he planned her demise.

Twelve minutes later the navigator announced that they'd achieved orbit. "Sensors," ordered Ruatha.

Morse, the sensor tech, responded. "Ma'am, I've configured the ship's detectors to locate our TIEs, on the assumption that they might be close to the Rebel vessels." It didn't take long to receive the transponder pings from the snub fighters. "Running a narrow field tactical scan now... I've located the Rebel ships, Ma'am! Feeding coordinates to the helm."

"Excellent," Ruatha responded. "Flank speed, helm."

"Flank speed, aye," came the acknowledgment from the corvette's pilot. The hum of the ship's reactor and the rumble of its engines increased. Vaniel felt the familiar tingle and thrill that accompanied combat.

A few seconds later Morse called, "Visual contact on the Rebels, Ma'am."

"Launch fighters," Ruatha snapped. Braxx issued the command before she'd finished her order. "Comm officer, give me a channel to Orras."

"Channel open, Adjutant."

"Status of the primary weapon, Orras."

"Ready to fire, Commander."

"Helm, line us up." She watched her display with its red aiming reticle superimposed over the image. They were forty thousand meters away from the Rebel ship when the pilot got it squared up in his tactical sight. Vaniel wore a cruel smile. "Orras… Fire!"

Taz picked up two small contacts on his tactical scope. He widened the field to keep Lyra's Striker in view as well.

"Weapons free," Sera called from the gunnery station behind Taz. She squeezed Reiko's hand. "I'm sorry about Yuzu, Rei-sha, but I need you to be sharp. Can you do that?"

Rei nodded, looking terrified and sad.

"That's my girl," Sera said with a soothing smile. She tapped her comm. "Kali, get on the ventral turret."

"But Captain, I'm not programmed for starship gunnery," she replied from the circuit bay.

"You have executive protection skills, right? Varun and Tess are your principals, and this ship's guns are what you've got to work with. Protect them."

There was a pause on the channel, then Kallista answered. "Yes ma'am, Captain Rendix."

"Two TIEs, inbound by seven," Taz called as the fighters closed from below them. "Kallista, don't shoot Lyra. I'm painting her ship in blue." He tapped at the controls and Lyra's fighter glowed with an azure outline on the targeting scope.

"I'll do my best, Master Taz," Kallista replied with less than her normal sultry confidence.

As the TIEs swarmed, Taz, Sera and Kallista worked their weapons. Allegra rocked under the impacts from the Imperial fighters' lasers, but Lyra did a good job of splitting their attention. Her ship was better than theirs in atmospheric combat, but that advantage fell off in space, and she wasn't a combat pilot.

Taz knocked one of them out with a blast from the forward ion cannons. He lined up another when he felt the familiar shock behind his eyes. "Something big's coming," he grunted. A second later warning alarms blared in the cockpit. A wedge-shaped vessel appeared from behind the planet's limb, burning hard for them. At sixty thousand meters it launched a pair of fighters.

Taz fired an ion burst at the TIE buzzing them, it turned out of the way, right into the path of Lyra's lasers. The Imperial fighter ship exploded in an expanding cloud of debris. Tess flew away from the larger craft.

"That's a Raider-class. Looks modified," came Lyra's voice over the comm. Indeed, as the corvette closed the distance they could see an enormous cannon had been fitted atop the narrow dagger-like hull. No sooner had they seen the big gun than it began to glow with energy. A half second later a brilliant emerald beam cut through space, missing Allegra's Heart by only a few hundred meters. Instead of a pulse, like most lasers, the Kantorius's gun fired a concentrated beam with substantial dwell time.

Taz got a sickening feeling. That beam looked just like the one he'd seen in after-action reports from Endor when the Alliance had battled the second Death Star. The corvette's pilot steered the nose of the ship, slicing the beam through the vacuum. Tess jerked the controls hard, ducking Allegra under the beam.

Sera swore loudly. "If we get hit by that thing we're finished!"

Taz's mind swirled. He wondered how fast it could fire. It outranged them by a lot. "Stay away from that beam, Lyra," he called.

"Worry about yourselves," she responded tersely, sliding behind one of the new TIEs and squeezing off a burst. It jinked out of the way at the last instant and made a tight turn. Sera chased it with the fast-firing dorsal cannon.

A sudden thought occurred to him. "I can tell you when they're going to fire, Tess... I think." He could use the Force, and reach into whatever minds he could find on the enemy ship. He slipped into it, letting its gray haze seep into his perception. He probed with his senses, felt the cold bulk of the Imperial corvette and the score of souls on board. He touched each mind in turn, feeling the surface thoughts, until... Vaniel Ruatha.

He probed deeper, attuning his senses to hers. More than that, he heard her thoughts, sensed the cruel jubilance, and her anger at having missed with her first shot. He was certain she was in command. "Tess," he said in a languid voice, careful not to break the connection, "when I tell you, move the ship."

"Move where?" she asked, sparing a glance at him.

"Anywhere but where we are."

Tess nodded uncertainly, but said, "Okay Taz."

They didn't have to wait long. The Raider made an agile turn, lined up the shot, and Taz felt Ruatha give the order. "Move."

Tess dropped Allegra a few hundred meters as the thin green ray of the superlaser passed above them. She rolled away from the beam and steered a broad arc, using the lateral thrusters to kick Allegra's aft around. The freighter wasn't a combat vessel, but the YV-929 was designed to fight off pirates and it was nimble enough, especially when unencumbered by cargo. She squeezed the triggers on her controls, launching a pair of concussion missiles; the Raider was just in range. She was pretty sure they wouldn't be effective, but maybe they'd draw the Imperials' attention.

They continued their deadly dance with the corvette. It fired about every forty seconds, but Taz could recognize the feeling of Ruatha giving the command. Her mind was quick, disciplined, and focused on the only task that mattered to her— destroying the little freighter and the Rebels aboard it. He caught flashes of other thoughts; a fleet near Eadu with dozens more ships waiting to be fitted with miniature superlasers; contempt for Tafo, for the breach of security that might bring their entire operation crashing to the ground, yet still calculating a path to a renewed Imperial throne.

"Move," Taz said, and Tess pushed Allegra aside.

Ruatha's furor grew with every missed shot. How could the Rebels in their pathetic little transport, dodge shot after shot? She lashed out at her crew while she ordered the cannon recharged.

Taz opened his eyes. He pushed just enough of his attention into his linke with Ruatha to be sure he wouldn't lose it. "We need to get closer."

"Our missiles just bounce off their shields," Sera reported. I doubt the turbolasers'll do any better."

"We need our own superlaser," Tess complained as one of the enemy TIEs scored a series of hits on the ship. Allegra's Heart quaked under the impact. She had good shields and a tough hull for a ship of her size, but they wouldn't be able to take punishment like that forever. Lyra streaked in, giving chase. The second TIE got on her tail; Sera swung the turret around and triggered a blast from its trio of rotating barrels. A bolt clipped the fighter, shattering its starboard solar collector and sending it careening out of control.

Suddenly Taz remembered the kyber crystal in his pocket. "Reiko, I have something for you."

"What is it?"

"Move, Tess!"

She pulled up, then rolled out and flipped the ship perpendicular to the corvette as it fired again. The Imperial ship turned to follow, and Tess was forced into more evasive maneuvering.

Taz dug into his pockets. "They're using kyber crystals to enhance the power and range of their weapons. Maybe we can do the same." He handed the items to her. "Technical specs for their superlaser, and a kyber crystal. Think you can do something with one of our turbolasers?"

"I don't know," she said, looking frantic and scared.

"Rei-sha," said Sera, "sooner or later we're going to catch a hit from that beam, a fighter, or one of the Raider's other guns. Do what you can."

As if on cue, someone on the corvette began firing one of the laser turrets. The Raider was made for combatting starfighters; its fast-tracking laser turrets had more than enough punch to take down Allegra with a sustained burst. The particle beams were already finding their range; Allegra's shields began to shimmer from laser hits as Tess nudged them in closer.

"Move!" Taz called. Somehow they'd managed to reload much faster that time.

Reiko studied the superlaser schematics at her engineering panel in the circuit bay as Allegra's Heart took another round from one of the fighters. Kallista stood beside her, plugged into the auxiliary gunnery controls. She spun the lower turret and fired a rapid blast that trailed just behind the remaining TIE as it made a low strafing run and passed out of range. Kallista made a note to adjust her lead for the next attack.

Reiko figured she'd need to reroute most of the ship's power to the turbolasers, reconfigure the actuating module, and supplement the focusing array with the kyber crystal. She grabbed her tool bag and raced to the portside cargo bay. The maintenance hatch was small; Allegra's turbolasers were meant to be serviced from the outside, but she wriggled her head and arms into the cramped space, switched on a headlamp, and got to work, shutting out the rest of the universe. She only hoped that the pounding they were taking wouldn't destroy them before she had a chance to complete her modifications.

They were close enough to the corvette now to slug it out with lasers. Taz fired the ion cannons, but his focus was elsewhere. Sera split her attention between the missiles and her laser turret. Even up close though, a solid salvo of missiles and fire from their starboard turbolasers caused only minimal damage against the corvette's tough shields and thick armor.

Tess steered clear of the corvette's bow where its more powerful turbolasers and the superlaser could be brought to bear, but that exposed them to the Imperial ship's anti-starfighter guns. Plasma bolts peppered Allegra. "Shields at forty-eight percent!" Sera called, launching their last four missiles.

Tess started to think they might not make it. She quickly dialed up a frequency on her comm. A moment later her mother's voice filled the speaker. "Mom, it's Tess. Are you both okay?" Sudden joyful tears flooded her eyes.

"Tess, we're fine, sweetheart. Where are you? It's pandemonium here! Are those explosions I hear?"

"Mom, listen, I… don't have much time to talk." A barrage of fire smashed into Allegra's side, jolting her wildly. Sparks and the pop of fried circuits filled the cockpit with smoke. Tess ducked reflexively. She pulled Allegra back from the corvette and tried to swing behind it, but their pilot knew his ship's weak spot and kept the bigger ship turning to deny her that firing angle.

"Mom, I'm sorry, I know you think the rebellion was wrong, but the superlasers they're building with your crystals are just like the ones on the Death Star. They used that to kill two billion people, Mom. Two billion innocent people died, just so the Empire could make a statement. They don't need those to fight terrorists, they need them to make their own terror."

"Honey, I— we never wanted the war. That's not what we're working for."

"I know Mom, and I'm sorry we brought it to you. But I can't let them have their way. We're going to do everything we can to stop them before it's too late. I'm sorry I couldn't spend more time with you and Dad." She blinked the tears out of her eyes.

Reiko's voice came over the intercom. "Taz, I've done what I can. You'll probably only get one shot before the whole thing blows up. Make it a good one, for Yuzu!"

Lyra piped in, "If you can get their shields down, even if it's just a couple of seconds, I'll unload the three proton bombs I've got left."

"Lyra, no! Their turrets will tear your ship to pieces!" Taz cried over the comm.

"Tess, let's do this," Lyra said, sounding grave. "Taz, thanks for being there for me." Then she cut the channel.

Taz started to call after her, but Sera cut him off. "Doc, we've all got a job to do. Let's get it done." Then on her comm she said. "Reiko Hudson, I love you."

"And I love you, Serasana Rendix, with all my heart, until the universe ends." came the engineer's sobbing reply.

"Mom, I've gotta go. I love you both so much. Tell Dad for me."

"Wait, sweetheart—"

Tess switched off the comm with a furious, heartsick cry, waited for Lyra's ship to line up behind her, then dialed the throttles to maximum. "Reserve power to forward shields," she ordered as Allegra bounced violently from the corvette's fusillade. She adjusted her aim for what she figured would be a single shot. "Firing!" She yelled and squeezed the trigger for the portside cannons. A blinding, screeching gout of brilliant white plasma exploded from the turbolaser and smashed into the Raider, overburdening the ability of their shields to shed the energy.

Lyra threw her arm up to shield her eyes from the dazzling cascade as Allegra's turbolaser fired. She could just make out the telltale glow around the Kantorius that indicated a shield on the verge of overload. She fired all of the Striker's cannons, aiming for the same point Tess had hit, and opened her ion drives to maximum thrust. Her green beams splashed against the corvette's shields, but the next volley pounded the ship's hull. Lyra yelled, feeling unexpectedly triumphant. Whatever they'd done to Allegra's Heart had worked!

She dove low over the corvette, firing as she went, and triggered the bomb chute. The last three of her powerful proton charges dropped from the Striker and impacted the Kantorius, their antimatter warheads blasting a huge chunk from the ship's midsection. She hugged the Raider's hull as close as she dared, cutting a zig-zag course and firing her weapons. A turret tracked her, spinning as she passed by, spitting bright green plasma bolts. Lyra banked, turning for the ship's starboard side. If I can make it beneath their firing arc...

A deafening explosion erupted in the cockpit as a shot hit the Striker squarely between the engines. The fighter tumbled wildly, its solar collector wings ripping free and flying off into space. The ship slammed against the corvette's hull and cracked against the bigger vessel's durasteel armor.

Lyra yelled and flailed, thrown askew by the hard impact. She wrestled for control, her surprise turning into furious curses, but the thrusters had failed. Her hands flew over the controls, tying in backup power. The ship began venting what little atmosphere she had. A sudden chill wracked her body and she felt the bottom fall out of her stomach. A reactor overload warning blared in the cockpit. A coolant line caught fire behind her. She struggled with the mutilated, broken ship, her hands shaking. Lyra could feel the terrific heat from the fire at her back. Burning to death scared her more than just about anything, and rising panic staggered her for a moment. Better to die in the cold vacuum of space.

"I wish I could have had another night in the ruins with you, Taz", she uttered, tears stinging her eyes. "Allegra!" she cried as she reached over her head and pulled the ejection handles. The tiny rocket motor fired, compressing her spine as the hatch blew overhead. Lyra felt an instant of agony. She gulped a deep breath, but as the pressure seals gave way to vacuum her blood began boiling, and the oxygen in her lungs expanded explosively. She barely had time to cough up blood before she blacked out.

Taz watched helplessly as the little TIE Striker broke up over the top of the Raider. He screamed, rippling with fury, and triggered his guns but nothing happened. The shot from Reiko's modified turbolaser had exploded the weapon, ripping a three-meter hole in the hull, wrecking the portside weapons pod, and overloading the freighter's power mains. She floated in space, carried by inertia, barely functional.

Outside, the big fissure in the corvette's hull continued to grow as explosions tore through the ruined ship one after another. Allegra's cockpit was pitch black, save for the light from the detonations that cast a haunting glow. Panel lights flickered back on after a few seconds.

Snarling terrible curses, Taz probed with the Force and found Ruatha again. The ISB agent felt as enraged as he did. She was thinking of escape, but Taz wasn't going to let that happen. He'd just watched Lyra's ship come apart. Rage and despair wracked him, and he turned all of it on Vaniel Ruatha.

Ruatha hurried aft. The Kantorius was doomed, but she was a survivor. They were still close enough to Beta Fonidian for her to make an emergency re-entry in an escape pod. She found Tafo scrambling into one. He'd left the bridge ahead of her with his tail tucked between his legs.

"You! Fool of a man!" she snarled. "Your soft heart and weak spine have ruined everything!"

"My team did its job," Tafo seethed. "It was your incompetence that led to this!" He turned to seal the pod's hatch. "I'll get back to the surface, contact Jellick for more sh—"

Ruatha had heard enough. She snatched her blaster from its holster and squeezed the trigger. The side of Tafo's skull exploded, splattering brain matter inside the pod. The director jerked, then crumpled to the deck. Vaniel grabbed him by the shoulders and struggled to drag his corpulence from the escape pod.

Those terrorists had unleashed something impossible that had overwhelmed their shields. No matter, though. Jellick had more than two dozen corvettes that they could fit with superlasers, kyber-enhanced reactors, and shields. There were enough high-grade crystals for scores more. Once they established control of the Dominus sector with its resource-rich worlds, they'd turn their attention to nearby Mon Cala, then build a real fleet and reestablish Imperial order in the galaxy.

She only needed to get back to Rho-277, impose proper order on the workforce, and continue the mining and manufacturing work. They'd still be able to build their war machine to sweep away the nascent New Republic; it would just take a little longer than planned.

She finished dragging the director's corpse out of the hatch and started to slide in as the Kantorius heaved under the effect of enormous explosions. Time was short; the corvette was in its death throes. No more time to waste on a dead ship.

Why is it so hard to breathe all of a sudden? She began wheezing; it felt as if her neck was caught in some invisible vise. She clawed at her uniform collar, panic rising. Ruatha tried to force air into her lungs, but the constriction around her neck only got worse. She gagged, sputtering and reaching for the intercom. That was useless, though; all of the crew were dead or incapacitated. She suffocated and collapsed beside Tafo, eyes wide as a raging fireball tore through the corridor and engulfed them.

Sera watched Taz stretch his arms toward the burning Kantorius. His hands clawed at the air. His face was twisted into a mask of hateful furor like she'd never seen from him, even in his darkest hours on Jakku. His eyes, usually blue and gentle, burned with malice while enraged, primitive sounds issued from deep in his throat. A palpable feeling of savage terror radiated from him.

"Doc?" said the commando, putting a hand on his shoulder. He turned his dark, red-rimmed eyes on her, but didn't seem to see her. Flares from the detonations aboard the Kantorius flashed across his face, rendering him even more sinister. Sera had the overwhelming feeling that he was sinking toward something awful, something she might not be able to save him from.

She grabbed his stiff shoulders and turned him in the copilot's chair. "Doc! Whatever's happening, you have to stop!"

"TAZ!" cried Tess from the pilot's seat. She'd never seen him look so terrible. His dark, twisted visage filled her with shock and dread.

Taz snarled, his clawed hands clenching tight. Sera kept shaking him and shouting his name, and after a few seconds, he flinched. His arms dropped and his body relaxed a little. He blinked— once, twice— then recoiled sharply, like he'd just witnessed some unimaginable abomination. Emergency power blinked on and the air handlers began clearing the smoke in the cockpit.

Taz stumbled out of his chair and staggered from the cockpit. He tripped, fell to his knees, and vomited. He'd felt Ruatha's death as clearly as if he were the one whose life had been choked out. The darkness and rage that he'd fought against before had nearly consumed him. He felt its incredible power flowing through him, but it demanded so much in return for what he'd done. His body shook, and his head pounded unceasingly. Blood trickled from his nostrils and ears, and he felt like his bones were cracking. He groaned and pushed the Force away, cutting it off like a diseased arm, screaming with the pain of it.

Limbs shaking, he got to his feet. Tess looked horror-struck. Sera followed him out of the cockpit, bleeding from a laceration on the side of her head, her face drawn. He waved her away. "I'm okay now, I'm okay," he rasped, wiping the blood from his face. "Thanks for pulling me back, Sera."

"Pulling you back? From what? What was that?"

Taz felt sick, aghast and disgusted. "Something I shouldn't have done." Tears filled his eyes as he leaned against the wall. Panting, he tried relaxing his tortured mind. His knees refused to hold him, and he slid to the deck. The Force felt far distant; he'd abused it and cast it aside, after all. There would be a price to pay for that, he was sure of it, but for now he only wanted some calm. The terrible sensations he'd felt as he took Ruatha's life overwhelmed him, and in that moment Taz found himself yearning for the dispassionate Force he'd always known.

Reciting the familiar Dahannist meditation, he sought it out. After some time he found it, and gradually gained a measure of quiet. The gray mist of the Force formed around his consciousness. He was weary, in pain, and so devastated that he almost missed the little sparkle in the gauzy fabric of his perception. He examined it closer. It felt tiny and fragile; the slightest disturbance would crush it. Time was extinguishing it with each passing moment. But he knew that sparkle. It was warm and familiar. It felt like... "Lyra." He breathed her name. She was out there, somehow clinging to life, however tenuously.

"What?" Sera asked. "Listen, Doc—"

He pushed past his friend and shuffled back to the cockpit on wobbly legs that didn't want to carry him. "Lyra's alive! I can still feel her in the Force." He pushed himself into the copilot's chair, color slowly returning to his ashen face.

"Where?" Tess's face was stiff with pain. She cradled her left arm; her shoulder looked like it might be dislocated.

Taz delved into the Force again, seeking more clarity in the haze. The sparkle was so dim now, but he found it out there in the void. "Can we move?" he asked, eyes fluttering with the effort he was expending.

"Just maneuvering thrusters," Tess groaned. She bit her lip to stifle a cry as Sera applied a sling to her injured arm and immobilized it with bandages.

Taz prayed the thrusters would be enough. He grabbed the control column and started turning the crippled freighter. They passed over the ruptured and mortally wounded corvette, Lyra's dim spark growing ever more solid in his perception as they approached. They'd gone nearly two kilometers when Tess called suddenly "I see her!"

Taz opened his eyes. Lyra's body floated in space, spinning slowly a few hundred meters away. "Get as close as you can, Tess," he urged. "I'm going to pull her in." He ran from the cockpit to the portside airlock as fast as his heavy legs would go, grabbed a breathing mask off the wall, and threw it over his face.

He stretched out with the Force, finding Lyra's spark now only a bare ember. He wrapped himself around her, felt the mass of her cold body, and pulled. She tumbled slowly toward Allegra's Heart. Taz remembered to clip onto the safety hook, shut the door behind him, and opened the outer airlock door as he squeezed his eyes shut. Straining, groaning from the effort, he pulled faster while the atmosphere flew from the small chamber in a flash of vapor ice. Lyra's body floated inside the ship and Taz caught her in his arms. He pressed his shoulder against the door switch, sank to the floor with her, and started to panic. She was so cold and stiff. Her lips were pale, her skin ashen. He checked for a carotid pulse and signs of breathing. He found neither.

Sera emergency-cycled the airlock, letting Allegra's atmosphere flood into the tiny space rather than waiting for the normal pressurization sequence. Taz cradled Lyra in his arms, tears spilling down his cheeks. He pressed her icy body close and let the Force flow around both of them. He pushed the hurt and anguish aside and poured his vitality into her, whispering to her through the Force. Don't leave me, Lyra. I need you.

Taz kept at it. He was so tired, but he knew if he stopped now she'd never return. He focused only on bringing her back to him and let time slip away. Slowly, delicately, he nurtured her little sparkle of life. I love you, Lyra Nimor. Don't make me live without you.

He couldn't tell how long, but after a while, Taz heard a soft sound and opened his eyes. Lyra stared back at him. Her lips were still blue, but she was breathing. Taz let out a long, shuddering sound, relief cascading over him in a cold wave. He'd made it in time.

Rei, Sera, and Tess stood in the passageway, dumbstruck by the miracle they'd just witnessed. Reiko hooted in jubilation and threw her arms around Sera's shoulders. Lyra whispered something, then closed her eyes.

Taz uttered a strangled, ecstatic cry of his own and held her tight to him. He got to his feet, cradled her in his arms, and took her to the medbay. He fitted an oxymask, tucked a heated blanket around her shoulders, then brushed a lock of hair from her beautiful, placid face. He took deep, steadying breaths. Now that she was safe, every agony he'd ignored assaulted him with unrelenting, reinvigorated fury. He hunched, nearly doubling over from pain and fatigue.

Tess came in behind him, Sera and Reiko crowding the tiny doorway. Taz forced himself upright despite the paroxysms running rampant in his body.

"Nice work. Unbelievable, but nice." Tess smiled at him, then winced again.

"You're hurt," he said, though it came out more like a groan.

"It's alright, you're exhausted, Taz."

"Let me help." He couldn't manage much more than a hoarse whisper, but he slipped into the Force again, so easily it seemed when it was for the people he loved. He flowed energy through his hand into her injured shoulder, breathing hard with the strain of it, like drawing honey through a straw.

Tess let out a long sigh; her face relaxed as the pain fell away. It felt warm and peaceful. "That's… amazing," Tess said, slipping out of the sling and testing her shoulder.

"Good," he sighed, nearly collapsing on the stool. "I'm pretty much spent."

She squeezed his hand tightly in both of hers. "I don't know how to thank you, Taz."

He shook his head and looked past her, nodding toward the bacta bed. "Your boyfriend's going to be jealous if he sees you holding my hand. Isn't that right, Numarkos-grasha?"

Tess looked over her shoulder and uttered a gleeful cry. Suspended in the bacta, Varun stirred. Behind the breathing mask, it looked like he was smiling. Tears in her eyes, Tess slipped her arms into the long gloves attached to the clear polymer enclosure and took his hand.

Taz rasped, "I know you don't like the bacta, but bear with it a while longer. We'll have you out of there tomorrow," Taz's voice fell off as the toll of his physical and emotional exhaustion overtook him. Varun gave him a nod.

Taz glanced over at Sera and Rei, standing in the doorway, hand in hand. "Are you two alright? Need me to do anything?"

"We're good," Sera assured him. "You don't need to do anything except rest. That's an order, Mister Oktos."

"Yes, Captain," he said, barely audible. He laid his head next to Lyra's shoulder, entwined his fingers with hers, and finally let consciousness slip away.