Chapter 15
Trust and Distrust
Tenel Ka hated waiting. Even though she was the kind of person who thought things through and plotted out her actions logically, she still hated waiting when it meant she was doing nothing.
She kept glancing at the door of the cell. It was hard to tell time from the inside of the cell but she knew Zekk had been gone for at least an hour. Her lack of connection to him disallowed herself from feeling his pain or even sending comforting messages through the force. All those options were not possible because she didn't communicate with her friends as well as she could have.
Finally the door opened and Zekk was dropped inside the cell and the darkness closed in on them again with a clang. He didn't move an inch and for a second Tenel Ka thought the had killed him. Fearing the worst she came over and turned Zekk over. His right eye was swollen shut and he looked up at her with his one good eye.
"They did something to numb my entire body. I can't move anything."
"Then do not try. If you cannot feel anything, you might injure yourself if you move."
"I'll take your word for that. I don't feel like moving anyways." He lay on the cold floor while Tenel Ka sat a few feet away, once again meditating.
"I think I know how to get out of here."
Her eyes opened to fix themselves on Zekk, who wasn't turning his head, so he was forced to stare up at the ceiling.
"What do you think we should do?" She asked. Tenel Ka herself wasn't entirely sure if they could get out of the base without being killed or recaptured. The amount of security around the base was tight and they didn't even have a ship. But sitting and doing nothing wasn't an option, that much she knew. Somehow they had to at least make it partway out of the base, then maybe they could get a message out to Jacen, Jaina, or Lowie through the force. Inside the base where the force could hardly be felt, Tenel Ka doubted their friends could sense either herself or Zekk.
"I think the warriors have a shift of some kind. I noticed when they took me out that they were switching the warriors around."
"But how can we see when the shift begins and ends? We cannot sense them or see them behind the door." Tenel Ka chided herself inside for having so many reservations. If Zekk had a plan, she had to trust him. He used the force too, they had to trust each other. Even if Zekk was not the most reliable and responsible of all of Tenel Ka's friends, Jaina and Jacen believed Zekk was capable of handling himself. Why else would Master Skywalker have let him return to the Academy to train. It wasn't as though she didn't think Zekk was on the light side of the force now. It was that she didn't think he would use his best judgment if the situation became one where they were fighting to escape.
She had seen Zekk's expression when they were at Cloud City, he was enjoying killing the warriors.
"So I think we can manage to slip out. I can hear their footsteps. We have to get them to come in here somehow." He paused, thinking. How could they get the Yuuzhan Vong warriors to come in without raising suspicion and keeping the door open long enough for them to get out. There was also the issue of weapons. Without their lightsabers or even blasters, they were sitting ducks.
"We'll have to steal their staffs." Zekk said.
"Pardon?" Tenel Ka stared at him incredulously. Even if the guards did come in, with their hands still bound they had no way of fighting the warriors for their staffs, let alone fighting them period. "I do not think we can fight them, friend Zekk."
"Then what do you suggest?" He retorted. "We're stuck here and I haven't heard you suggest anything else."
Tenel Ka thought for a moment. "This is a fact. I have not suggested another plan."
"Then we'll do my plan." Zekk decided with finality and pushed himself into a sitting position. "I'm not wasting my time in a Vong prison for the rest of my life."
"We still have no way to fight them." She pointed out.
Zekk grinned and showed her his hands, they were free of the cuffs. "You forget who you're talking to. I know how to break out of any prison. The Sith had tougher cuffs than this." At that moment the door clanged open and several feet filed into the room.
Claus poured drinks for all of them. Water for Tahiri and James because Kirk refused to let him give the students alcohol. Kirk himself had drunk underage when he was their age but then again he hadn't exactly been the most ideal teenager or student for that matter.
Kirk downed his beer and leaned on the table as Claus spoke, "So let me get this straight, you want me to ally with Luke Skywalker and fight the Vong?"
"In a nutshell, yeah." Kirk answered evenly. "But you know it's not Luke himself making the request."
"For all Jedi, right?" Claus chugged his beer from his mug and continued, "I don't buy the whole 'leader of the Jedi' act he puts on. He's not the master of us all, though we all know he wants to be."
"You're as skilled at rallying Jedi around you as he is. Luke knows that."
"So he's finally coming down to our level, eh?" Claus chuckled, drinking more of his beer, "He's humble, I'll give him that."
Claus put the mug down and looked seriously at Kirk. "What about you, Kirk? You don't seriously want to wag your tail at Luke Skywalker the rest of your life, do you?" He glanced over at the two students. "He might even make you baby-sit his Jedi brats."
"I'm not worried about that. I can leave whenever I want to." Kirk replied, his eyes frosty. "I don't like the idea of fighting in a group any more than you do, Claus. There's no one group governing the Jedi anymore."
"Amen." Claus raised his mug and downed the rest of his beer. He scrutinized Kirk for a few minutes, scratching his chin. "Well, I don't think I need to tell you that if I even so much as sense Luke trying to draw us into his program or whatever he's got, we're out."
"I don't think he will." Kirk's fashioned a bemused smile. Luke Skywalker was not going to try to make Claus Neros, a man who didn't mind killing anyone if it meant destroying the Peace Brigade or the Yuuzhan Vong, into a teacher or a role model of any kind. Kirk figured Luke was going to just let Claus go after they fought against the Yuuzhan Vong.
"We'll fight. If it's for the Jedi, I promise that we'll stick it through." He pointed a finger at Kirk, "But I'm not fighting for Luke Skywalker. That straight?"
Kirk nodded. "Straight on." Kirk replied, the old code he had with his friend for being understood. He stood up and headed towards the door, James and Tahiri at his heels.
"Kirk." Claus leaned back in his chair, his arms folded. Kirk turned around.
"You should really settle down. Traveling doesn't suit a bloke like you."
"Pirating doesn't suit you." Kirk replied and exited the bar. Claus chuckled as the door closed behind Kirk.
"He's in denial." Claus went and filled another mug. "Truth is he doesn't have anywhere to go at this point so he won't leave Luke's Academy." Claus chugged a gulp of the beer and then grabbed his belt from the table, clipping it on, his lightsaber banging against his leg as he did so. Claus then pulled on his Jedi robe and turned to the others in the bar, "Well? Let's go, we're going to beat him to the Academy." Claus strode out followed by fifty mixed races and genders of aliens in Jedi robes etched with the silver lightsaber symbol into their backs.
Zekk stood up and kicked the front most guard and tried to move but realized that the hand holding him back felt flatter than the Yuuzhan Vong grip and wasn't aggressive.
"Peace, Young Jedi." A voice said. Zekk looked into the dark purple eyes of a creature with webbed hands and the blue body of a faun. Zekk in his surprise lowered his guard and the webbed hand dropped from his shoulder.
"Thank the gods you were in the first cell." the speaker said. "We did not know exactly where to find the Jedi prisoners. Are you the only ones?"
Zekk's shock wore off long enough for him to respond, "I don't know. We haven't seen any of the other prisoners."
"Ah, I see." The speaker of the group of strange creatures said with a nod. He gestured to the other creatures. "Ak no ban, iska don." His smooth language flowed clearly and without and roughness and was gentle even. It was low and rich, almost a bass level tone.
"Yakkar!" The others replied and ran down the hallway and started opening the other doors. Zekk stared at the creature before him. He had never seen any creature in all his years in the galaxy like this one. The creature turned to face Zekk and Tenel Ka once more and tossed them their lightsabers. Tenel Ka caught hers and Zekk his.
"What planet are you from?" Zekk asked. The creature inclined his head slightly to the left, a gesture of acknowledgement to someone when they spoke.
"We are from the planet Sytorn and we are called Sytars. Our home is an aquatic planet on one the edge of this galaxy." He paused, "My name is Synthor. We are allies of the Jedi and wish to gain your help in defeating the Yuuzhan Vong. But in return you must do as I tell you right now."
Zekk shrugged his acceptance, "It's better than staying here."
Tenel Ka nodded. "I will accept as well."
"Good." Synthor said and then moved over to Zekk. "Hold still, this will take a moment." He placed his webbed hand on Zekk's forehead and Zekk shivered and tried to hold his body still. After a minute, Synthor removed his hand from Zekk's forehead and went over to Tenel Ka and repeated the gesture.
"Thank you, I promise we shall let you return to your home planet as soon as we have figured out how best to gather the Jedi' s alliance with us."
Zekk's mind felt funny and he could not sense Tenel Ka's presence beside him. He had the bad feeling that he would not be going back to Yavin 4 any time soon.
As they made their way out of the prison block of the Yuuzhan Vong base they were met by a large amount of warriors. The Sytars opened fire with their own weapons, small blasters that shot purple and yellow lasers that pierced through the Yuuzhan Vong armor with the first shot and struck their vital parts.
"What are those things?" Zekk asked Synthor as he saw the Yuuzhan Vong warriors fall before them without much of a fight.
"Vital Seeker Lasers. Our planet designed a program for medical purposes to find vital organs based on heat signatures. We just converted them into blaster guns after studying blasters from other planets."
Zekk's jaw nearly dropped. These Sytars were more than just a match for the Yuuzhan Vong and they weren't even a fighting based race. It was almost scary how accurately they had studied warfare in such a short amount of time. They really did want to eliminate the Yuuzhan Vong if they were inventing weapons just to achieve that goal. Zekk wondered if they were even truly a peaceful race. If Zekk were honest he'd say he didn't believe for a moment that a creature who had coolly gunned down a group of warriors, even the Yuuzhan Vong, who were as brutal as they come, without remorse could possibly be in any situation peaceful. That was something he adamantly did not believe and would never believe. Zekk knew a killer when he saw one because he'd lived among killers for the majority of his life. First he Lost Ones, then the Second Imperium, and most of all he lived with the most cruel of all killers, himself.
"It all comes down to anatomy. Every creature built naturally has a lifespan to live and cessation point." All the Sytars bowed to the Yuuzhan Vong, their hands in a praying position, their heads inclined to the right.
"We shall go now and leave these creatures to the gods." Synthor continued on ahead, with some of his Sytar soldiers. Behind them were other prisoners the Sytars had managed to free. Zekk couldn't tell whether they were Jedi or not because for some reason his Jedi senses weren't feeling anything, in fact they just didn't feel at all.
Even though the Sytars weren't like the Yuuzhan Vong in their brutality, Zekk couldn't help but notice how similar the creatures were. Both were polytheistic and believed in natural things. Only the Sytars mixed nature with science. This didn't change that fact that Zekk had a nauseating feeling about these creatures, it only increased his misgivings. Even if they were there to help, the way they went about exterminating the Yuuzhan Vong reminded Zekk of the cold precision of the Dark Jedi during the first and second Empire.
Zekk glanced over at Tenel Ka who was not making any outward indication that she shared Zekk's distrust. There wasn't any way he could ask her either, the Sytars were right in front of him. Well, Zekk thought, I guess I'll just have to deal with it until I find out what these blackguards are really about.
And whether or not I have wipe them out too, he added as an afterthought. At this point, he didn't have the space to be merciful. If that meant he had to betray the trust of his friends that he was done with the dark side, then he would resort to it. Even if Jaina would never forgive him for being cruel, because this was as much for her sake as anyone else's. The Sytars were a good ally now, but they were going to be bad news later. That much, Zekk knew.
Jaina, Lowie, and an unconscious Jacen flew back to Yavin 4 in sober silence. There was nothing that could have consoled the trio. Not only did they have no idea where their friends were, but as of about an hour ago, they'd lost force contact, and force presence with Tenel Ka and Zekk. Jaina dreaded having to tell Jacen that Tenel Ka was dead. There was nothing more terrifying to her than thinking about her twin's reaction. Especially since Jacen had been more prone to anger and brash actions since the Yuuzhan Vong war had begun. It seemed like the only thing holding both herself and Jacen together were their friends and family and the loss of one of those rocks behind them was a blow they were sure not to overcome very easily.
Lowie was steering the ship while Jaina sat in the co-pilot's seat. Lando had lent them a ship since their ship was badly damaged during the attack on Cloud City. "It's the least I can do. I'll contact Luke when I have the ship fixed. Not to worry." He gave them one of his charismatic smiles. But none of them felt much like smiling back.
Lando thanked them for helping out and since he felt there was nothing else to say that could erase the obvious grief they were going through, he sent them back to Yavin 4 on the ship he had lent them.
Lowie growled a low message to Jaina and she shrugged, "I don't know, Lowie, he's been pretty badly injured." Jaina glanced over towards the room where she'd put Jacen. She wasn't sure if his injuries were the real reason he'd passed out. It could have well been shock. Or both.
Lowie barked a few times and flipped a switch, "If you want to. I don't really feel like eating right now." She nodded for him to go, "I'll watch the ship. You go on."
Lowie growled his understanding and made his way back to the small compartment where the rations were stored. Jaina felt sick. Just when she'd thought she was making some progress getting through to Zekk, who had been trying his best to shut the world out, even though it had been clear to Jaina and the rest of the galaxy that Zekk wasn't a Sith anymore. Even if he had been that way in the past, he'd held back, and that was what counted.
Now she'd never be able to understand him or even tell him that she didn't care what he'd been in the past. She'd told him that many times but he needed to hear it again because he was blind to the fact that someone might actually think he's worth being around. Jaina wasn't sure how she knew that Zekk was ashamed and thought he was worthless as a Jedi because of his anger and desire to destroy, but she could just tell he felt that. It was a feeling only she knew he had harbored for a long time, maybe even before the Second Imperium took him in. Zekk had to have felt inferior and that was the tool Brakiss had used to get inside Zekk's head to control him.
To say the least, Jaina blamed herself for not seeing that happening. Zekk didn't deserve the anguish caused by regret or to be thought of as worthless. Because he wasn't worthless. Jaina never thought that, not once. As long as they'd been friends Jaina had found the wild boy from the lower levels of the city to be even more adventure prone and fun loving than herself or Jacen had ever been, and that was saying something. Zekk had a knack for getting into trouble and being loyal. He knew had to have a good time.
But Zekk had changed. He was more serious and sometimes grim. Jaina's concern was put aside because of the war but that didn't mean she hadn't paid attention to all the opinions Zekk voiced about how to handle the Yuuzhan Vong. He was cold sometimes and often just didn't make jokes like he used to.
Jacen was the same. He wasn't the same. Jacen had stopped exploring animals and researching them. His love of all living things didn't extend to the Vong and that was made him research how to destroy.
Everyone around her had changed. She knew that it was natural for people to change, but the kinds of changes she'd seen in her brothers, in Zekk, and even in herself. She'd seen that she no longer wanted to have any down time because it allowed herself time to think about things she knew she shouldn't. Like the fact that she'd seen the distant looks in Anakin's eyes of late, or the angry glares Zekk kept throwing at the Yuuzhan Vong whenever they battled. He hadn't talked to her much either. Occasionally they'd exchange words about the mission but that was it.
Jaina's mind hurt from thinking and she rubbed her temples hoping to relieve some of the pain. It didn't really help.
Her cheek suddenly felt cold and she turned to see Lowie was pressing a cold canteen at her. She took it.
"Thanks, Lowie." She gave him a smile, even though it was hardly a real one. He barked what was his way of saying "You're welcome."
Lowie gave a low moan and Jaina nodded.
"I know, Lowie, I miss them too." She opened her canteen and took a drink. It chilled her to the bone.
Jaina leaned over and looked out of the front viewport.
"This can't be right." She carefully scanned the scenery below. The trees were smoking and some were on fire. Across the jungle were large craters where trees once stood. The edges of the docking bay were singed and burn holes were visible in the outside walls of the temple and the Academy itself.
"Are you sure this is the right coordinates, Lowie?" Jaina asked. Lowie growled an affirmative although Jaina already knew with grim conviction that this was Yavin 4 and that it had been attacked. But it didn't look like a Yuuzhan Vong attack.
And that was what worried Jaina the most.
Luke Skywalker met them at the docking bay.
"Jaina! Lowie! Thank the force you're here. We need your help." He ran over to her as she and
"Uncle Luke, what happened here?" Jaina asked, "It wasn't the Yuuzhan Vong. So what happened?"
Luke nodded, "You're right, it wasn't the Yuuzhan Vong. It was the Peace Brigade."
"Peace Brigade?" She frowned. They were known for violent actions against the Jedi but she had no idea that they knew there were Jedi on Yavin 4. There had to be something more to it. That much Jaina was sure of. Everything else was in shades of gray.
"I'm sorry, but I'll have to explain later. There are damages to be repaired. They only left thirty minutes before you messaged you were going to return. We have to be prepared in case they come back. Can you stand guard?" He glanced around. "Where's Jacen?"
"Unconscious." Jaina replied flatly. The strain in her voice was evident and her Uncle gave her an understanding mental nudge in the force. She'd take care of her brother first, Luke understood that.
Lowie and Jaina carried Jacen to the med-center and he was put in a bacta tank. Jaina then went with Lowie to patrol the Academy for enemies. It seemed like the war was never going to be with them, even if the force was.
Luke sat in his office, his eyes tightly shut in concentration. He ground his teeth, a habit he'd tried to get rid of by meditating, but of late he'd been unable to do so.
There was something about the attack that seemed all too convenient, too planned. The Peace Brigade would not stage an open attack on a Jedi oriented place unless they knew exactly what the layout was there. Or if they hoped to kidnap some students. The thought disturbed the grand master Jedi.
There was one thing, or rather a person his thoughts kept coming back to, no matter how hard he tried avoiding the conclusion, Luke knew had had to confront it. That was the responsibility he had as the protector of the Academy. He opened his eyes and sighed.
The only person who was connected to the Peace Brigade who knew about the Academy from the inside was James.