Star Wars: The Korasa Trial

Chapter 6:

The pilot was slumped forward, head resting on his out flung arms, but conscious. A hissing groan escaped him as he pushed himself slowly up, fumbling with the buckle of his harness. The Force warped through him, and his arms began to tremble. His passenger fared no better, staring ahead with eyes glazed over in horror.

"Come on Master Shan, surely you're used to that sort of landing by now," he quipped, his grin falling flat. Her grey eyes met his before sliding away, the hollow gesture fooling neither of them. He turned back to the sensor readouts.

"Air's pretty thin, we'll need breathers –"

"He's dead," she said flatly.

"We can't know that for sure, I know I saw at least one green blade down there; he's a tough kid…" he trailed off, shrinking a little from the paralyzing grief in the Force; she wasn't referring to the boy. He reached for the breathers, dropping one noisily. It stirred her, and she made an effort to collect herself.

"Come on," he said again, steadfastly ignoring the way her hand shook as he passed it to her.

***

There was a lull in the fighting after the ship's appearance, the ion cannons falling silent again. Hunters had looked up hopefully, expecting reinforcements. As there were none to be had, they carried on fighting, bare hints of desperation beginning to show through. But they fought hard, now calling encouragement between themselves. Kagen had dismissed it as his imagination, but the Byaven were indeed thinning out.

Nearby, Yasue was fighting a Kouven; one of the last still moving. At some point she'd accepted another mask – a mild-looking face etched in yellow and green – but the bloody streak across it still paid homage to its original owner. Somehow she was managing to block the red blade, despite its greater length and the closeness of the debris around her. Another Hunter was backed towards her, unaware of the danger as he blocked blaster fire with a thick-bladed saber. Her Force aspect changed, suddenly reckless, and with the next parry, she slid her baton down to touch against the saber's hilt.

As at the dome, the lightsaber overloaded violently, hot fragments of metal suspended by the Force. Yasue let them fall, stepping into the clone so close her masked forehead bumped against his chest plate. There was a flicker, and he dropped. Dahy frowned, plainly disturbed.

"That's an interesting power," he remarked, warily. The stun baton fizzled noisily, entirely spent.

"It's not really that interesting. The clones have very similar minds. Tae-Haya-mi," she said easily, raising her hand in a vague salute. He didn't look convinced, some of the energy draining away as his face reverted to its customary seriousness. It was strange; he had seemed so much younger, and less of a Jedi Knight than an equal when he had found the Padawan. A shred of relief remained, lightening his sharp blue eyes; but they were now rather foreboding.

"A captain at your age; you must be pretty strong," he pressed, indicating the two-coloured design on her mask.

"I'm no stronger than anyone else. I'm just better at killing stuff." There was no animosity towards the Jedi, but a flat, cool tone in her voice that suggested she was more concerned with the last few Byaven. He turned back to Kagen and his Force presence drew away from hers.

"There's another unit left – up there," Yasue pointed up at the Maintenance Level. Dahy followed her gaze discerning small movements in the gloom. "That's not a retreat pattern –"

"They're going after that ship." The Jedi Knight's voice was grim, and he broke into a run. Hunters melted out of his path, perhaps persuaded by the humming lightsaber he hadn't bothered to deactivate.

"Tae-Haya-mi," the green-skinned Twi'lik called out in protest.

"Ven reinforcements are less than an hour away, Heron, there's no time," she said over her shoulder. He raised his mask angrily, but spun on heel, open-mouthed as more ships screamed over the edge. Their sub-light engines were much smaller than the great drives necessary for interstellar travel; but they also lacked the more sophisticated shielding that helped to dampen the noise. One twisted down into the gorge beside them, a massive Togorian leaping out to land heavily among the debris.

The ship didn't land, but carried on along the Rift, warriors disembarking as it went. They were mostly human, unmasked and with very little armour; with the exception of the alien, they all wore long cloaks in white or grey, very similar to those favoured by the Jedi. The Togorian had a thick cylinder enveloped in his shaggy paw and it was only after the glaring yellow blade had activated that Kagen recognized it as a lightsaber. The hilt was the same thickness as his wrist, the blade scarcely thinner, and the few Ven in his path simply folded around it, armour notwithstanding.

A human followed, his navy blue cloak drawn in around him and the hood casting his face in shadow. Two gleaming lightsabers hung at his waist, momentarily revealed by the shifting folds, and a bright white insignia stood out on his right shoulder. The alien had the same symbol on his cloth-wrapped bandolier; the colours in reverse, and he stepped out of the other's path with unexpected grace.

Much like Yasue, the human's presence was visible in the Force and almost entirely closed off, but the sense of underlying power was much greater. The Hunter captain was facing away from him, but she had gone so very still. The clear blue-grey eyes passed over her, chill recognition stretching taut between them. Yasue seemed utterly startled; Kagen felt her relief when the man turned his attention to the other captain. Noticing the Padawan's attention, her sense drew violently away, and she joined the Togorian as he swept the area for hostiles.

The Twi'lek recovered faster, straightening his pink and blue mask.

"Third Division; Hunter Captain Heron," he reported, carefully respectful. He was much less guarded than either of the others and Kagen caught the slight resentment behind the calm front.

"Second-div Gotae-San: Lieutenant Sloan can remain here to support you, but I would appreciate Tae-Haya-mi's assistance in retrieving that freighter." There was a note of command in the reply, that Heron was clearly reluctant to challenge. The Twi'lek bowed his concession, lekku bobbing with the motion.

San nodded shortly, first to the other captain, then the Togorian who gave a muffled snarl of acknowledgement. Dahy shrugged his cloak back onto his shoulders, the singed fabric considerably less elegant; on closer inspection, San's was also imperfect, but the wear had been carefully repaired. He had yet to lower his hood, but a few strands of dark hair had fallen across his pale face.

"Jedi aid is also welcome," San said formally. "The ship landed in the 318th sector, which is right in the middle of where the Ven are advancing; the first 300 sectors are completely quiet, as are the 400th onwards." His voice was slightly raised for the benefit of the nearest Hunters, but very even and controlled; his composure could have rivalled that of any of the Jedi Masters of Kagen's acquaintance, yet he didn't seem all that much older than Yasue.

"How many units?" Yasue asked.

"So far, more than two hundred, and they're still coming through; he's sending everything he has. We haven't got much time before the next wave." She hissed quietly, glancing up at the rough edge of the Rift. The surrounding Hunters made no comment, but the atmosphere had turned very serious, and they moved quickly out of the way of the rescue party. Dorn saluted once, following Dahy's order to assist the masked warriors. The Jedi Knight seemed disinclined to explain their meeting; only that Esk had died in the first attack.

The far side of the Rift was less steep and Kagen flung himself up the slope without really thinking. Blood pounded in his ears, mercifully drowning out the short bursts of blaster fire that had resumed; there were no Ven left fighting, but the injured were being systematically eliminated. Unfortunately there was no stifling the sense of death in the Force. The clones had left a blurred presence; a violent purpose that shrunk with each fresh volley. Yasue paused a few steps ahead. Kagen hadn't meant to pry after she'd pulled away, but once again, he felt her decision not to intervene almost as clearly as if he'd made it himself. An ouken might save them a little suffering, but was too taxing to allow with the rest of the Ven convening upon them.

Dahy was still questioning the two captains, displaying faster acclimatization than seemed logical.

"Even if they breached the Mid-Gates, lifting them all would be –"

"Pretty impossible, so long as OAI remains operational," Yasue said, strangely impassive.

"He's opened them, Darteru'. All of them; the system was broken two hours ago. The evacuations will start in less than an hour," Dahy swore quietly, staring at the back of San's head. Yasue was less surprised, and simply sped up a little.

"So he really is serious this time, you picked an interesting time to come back, Jedi-da." She directed her attention back to the Jedi Knight; it wasn't an accusation as such, but there was an odd curiosity in the way she said it.

"We've been busy," Dahy returned, catching his breath as their path became more vertical.

"So have we; there's been more Kouven than ever running around and they're moving independently. One tracked us and probably would have killed your apprentice there if the shields hadn't activated."

"He's not my apprentice, but I appreciate it all the same. Is there anyone else important involved?"

"Only Vessel so far, but he disappeared again after blowing up the platform."

"Sou demera, right?" There was a dry irony to his speech that grated on the Padawan. Yasue answered in the same language, turning a neat flip through the air to land on an outcrop some three metres higher.

"You've been here before," Kagen said, dismayed. Reflexively, he caught the next handhold, and pulled himself up, but couldn't take his eyes off the Jedi Knight. Dahy paused, looking down to meet his accusing stare.

"I promise you I haven't," he said bluntly, jerking his head towards the top. "I think that ship should be your concern at the moment. It won't matter who's on it; Byaven aren't very hospitable." Kagen swallowed back the multitude of questions he wanted to ask, trying not to feel betrayed. Doubt gnawed at him, but the Jedi training he had so painstakingly engraved into his being at last began to assert itself. There would be time for mistrust later, and after a steadying breath, he climbed after them.

Yasue's lips twitched into a small smile behind her mask, and she waited for him to catch up. The mild approval was unexpected but welcome. The final stages of their ascent were delicate, running at the sheer faces of rock, using the Force to sustain momentum until a ledge wide enough to stand on was reached. Twice, Kagen slipped down, digging his fingers painfully into tiny cracks to hold his weight. Despite his much greater weight, footholds shifting unpredictably, Dahy reached the top without stumbling once.

There was a shimmering wall of energy blocking their entry, dangerously close to invisible – the sector shields on this side ran up to and along the edge. Yasue thumbed a button on her comlink, looking back across the Rift. A faint movement drew Kagen's eye; Obee was drifting lazily across the gap. He was startlingly quick, for all his apparent disinterest, beeping a definite negative at Yasue as he hovered in front of the shield.

"Sticks are no use," she said cryptically. Noticing the two Jedi's incomprehension, Yasue flushed, swinging her mask halfway around. "Solder rods; used to measure disproportion in – or disrupt – the dome shields. This one would melt them in a second, and Obee doesn't have official authorization to open them," she added, as San regarded the droid. He didn't reply, but detached a narrow datachip from his belt. The droid made a strangled whine, swivelling between the two humans.

Yasue blinked, but took the offered chip, and beckoned Obee down to her height. He hesitated, but ran a blue-coloured scanning light over it; then Yasue yanked him towards her with an impatient application of the Force. Obee opened his dataport obediently, but kept up a dull electrical muttering. The download only took a moment, and the beeping became much more interested; when the completion tone sounded, the droid approached the wall sensors at speed, trilling out the acquired codes.

"I'll remove the access authority from him later, thank you," Yasue said flatly.

"You're a Second Division captain; the authority is yours as well. I didn't think you would have removed those codes in the first place." San glanced up as the energy shield flickered and died, his expression unchanged.

"It seemed appropriate." Yasue whistled at Obee and stepped under the threshold.

"Those pillars are turbolifts, take your pick of whichever looks closer." Obee took the initiative, gliding away into the dark. The ceiling was much lower and only a few domes shone in the distance, framed by the next dividing shield. Supporting columns were spaced evenly around a host of important looking pipes carrying vital substances between the levels.

Bobbing in smug satisfaction, Obee made a pointed series of beeps, opening the lift door. It was easily big enough to fit a dozen people, but the lack of opposition was disquieting. The lift rose silently, the screen counting down until it stopped on the second level. Obee wailed in displeasure, drifting back to let Yasue enter a short code into the keypad. The floor vibrated once as the carriage began to move again.

Grey light filtered in through the transparisteel panels as the doors reopened. A single corridor, walls and ceiling one continuous curve, ran in two directions. A dome rose up, half a kilometre away, and other translucent passageways traced over the vast surface of the station. Out of the shadow of the Rift, the sky was quite pretty, a pearly blue-grey colour uninterrupted by cloud.

"There's the ship," Kagen said, moving forward as he reached for the breather still hanging around his neck. Yasue put a restraining hand on his shoulder, steering him into the recessed doorway that led to the exterior. The ship was a rather boxy freighter, unfamiliar, and the red markings painted across it uneven and fresh. As the door seal hissed, the boarding ramp lowered, a tall figure stepping out.

Recognition was fleeting, before the Force surged in formless warning. Blaster fire ripped into the wall behind them, Byaven and a silver-masked elite appearing at the bend in the corridor, flanked by a Kouven. Dahy swore loudly, catching a few bolts on his lightsaber, but not before one scored a glistening line over his thigh.

He stumbled, green blade hovering defensively, but pain was making him clumsy. Kagen leapt to cover him; Yasue was faster. She descended among the clones in a heartbeat, red blade flashing. The speed had cost her, and she favoured her right leg heavily, but they were already down. The Kouven blocked one swift blow, collapsing under the second.

Stray blaster bolts ricocheted off the transparisteel, leaving thick black streaks. Kagen found himself beside Yasue, with no memory of moving, watching her turn to face the clones pouring out of the lift. Her eyes widened, right foot dragging, but the row of clones was bisected from behind. A falling blaster went off, the ceiling shattering in a thousand glittering pieces. Yellow eyes gleamed from beneath a heavy scarf, vicious delight rippling through the Force.

He came back to himself a moment later, disorientated by the sudden vision. But there she was a little way down the corridor, moving with the same slowness, and surprise softening her face. Transparisteel shattered, the countless shards hanging in a shimmering cloud impervious to the pressurised air flowing out. An alarm sounded, clones pouring out of the lift to surround the still figure in vortex's centre.

A woman, swathed in dark cloth and veiled stood with her arms outstretched, shining fragments resting on her. Her lightsaber deactivated, the red light fading as the hilt dropped down. Byaven raised their weapons, but never fired. The screen of broken transparisteel vanished, replaced with pinkish mist. Clones let their weapons fall, eyes hidden, but their heads angled down to stare at the livid threads of blood tracing over their armour.

Strangely, her eyes were hidden beneath the purplish scarf, only the cruelly twisted lips were visible. Raising one arm delicately, she wrenched the lift door from its socked, plugging the splintering hole in the ceiling. Fragments dropped to the floor, stained red and the Force rose in sickening waves. Dahy shuddered; it was all he could do not to collapse, blood running down his leg in a warm stream.

San had gone the other way; his whitish blade flashing between the Ven emerging from another lift on the far side of the corridor's arc. Kagen watched for a moment, bemused. He had covered the ground so quickly, so far around that the sounds of his battle faded before they could reach them. The Force surged as the tall captain raised his hand and brought it sharply down again; the remaining Byaven all staggered under the motion, falling flat. A silver-masked Araven fired uselessly as he dispatched them, the lightsaber's blade barely seeming to move.

Kagen's stomach wrenched as he forced his attention back to the grim figure surrounded by glass. But the woman ignored them, barely inclining her head towards Yasue. She spoke quietly, a smooth, rolling accent that would have been pleasant, but for the contained lighting that coloured her words. She was of the dark side, so very clearly, and the Padawan watched blankly as Yasue nodded in return.

"I hate these things," Yasue was saying, retrieving a battered lightsaber from one of the Kouven, but then she stiffened suddenly, glancing back towards the Jedi then the ship.

"Si'en!" The older woman swept her hand back, sliding the crumpled door away from the hole long enough for Yasue to dart through. She sped across the platform, activating the red saber as she threw herself between the single Kouven and the figure from the ship. A Force push knocked him out of the way, an orange lightsaber spiralling out of his grip, and she caught the worst of the following lightning in her hand.

The Kouven tried to pass her as another figure staggered down the ramp. Kagen saw the other woman stumbling back; Yasue was still between them, the red blade shimmering through the air. It caught the clone across his chest, clipping his chin, and the black mask fell. The woman drew away; mouthing in soundless horror, then tore her hand towards the Captain, the Force horribly tainted. But that was his Master, her face drawn and ghastly; and Yasue, terribly off guard, was thrown aside, bouncing off the ship's unforgiving wall.

Bastila Shan fell to her knees, the long hilt of her lightsaber rolling away unnoticed, her eyes fixed on the Kouven's blank face.

A/N - apart from chapters 2 and 3 merging to make more sense, this is the first chapter with a significant change from the original; that being my OC, San coming in earlier. I really needed him in the next chapter and this seemed the best way to do it. Anyway; big plot reveal here, and a free bar of internet chocy to anyone who's figured it out before now. I hope you enjoy it; this was a fun chapter to write...I've been looking forward to writing Si'en since day one.