Chapter VII:
Diversion
The glider swept through the land with a fierce roar from its engines. Mira sat behind Kyle in silence, endlessly thinking about the next obstacle Thrawn would throw in their way. The Chiss had no way to know about their whereabouts, thus sending troops against them would have been a foolish idea. Luring them out, on the other hand, seemed to be a much better one.
As part of the New Jedi Order, both of them were obligated to follow a code. A strict set of rules that dictated their actions. It was a useful tool when they had to make a hard call, however it also made them predictable for those who were after them. If not for their superior skills and their unmatched determination, Mira was sure, the Jedi would have been long gone from this world. She remembered of countless occasions when their enemies used their own code against them. And if their previous foes could do that, it was more than assured that Thrawn would try something like this as well.
Following this trail of thought, only two questions left at the end of the road:
What would he try? And how could they get out of it?
The answer for the first one came sooner than expected. Tilting her head to the right, she saw the smokes from a village pillaged by Thrawn's forces. If it were up to her, she would continue her journey, pretending that she had seen nothing. However, there was no way Kyle would do the same.
Katarn deactivated the engines, slowing them down on the desert's dark brown sand.
"They are slaughtering them," Kyle said in disbelief, stopping the glider entirely above the hot ground.
"Wait a minute," Mira told him, getting the macrobinocular in her hand.
Burned buildings lay in front her in the distance, however she could see no active fire. Wrecked gliders lay between the buildings. She looked closely for bodies near them, but there were none. Thrawn didn't just slaughter the inhabitants, he also took the bodies with him.
Either that, or the attack was a set-up.
"There are no bodies," she said with a splinter of surprise in her voice. "They are setting us up."
"We can't just leave them," Kyle shook his head.
They both remembered their previous conversation. The last thing she wanted to do was to start bickering about this in the middle of a warzone. Even though, the confrontation seemed to be unavoidable.
"There are no bodies. Who exactly do you want to protect?" she asked firmly.
"I feel a presence in there," he answered, although the presence could both indicate survivors, or stormtroopers, ready for an ambush. "We have to be sure."
"And while we do that, Rey dies," she sighed, although at this point, there was no way to convince him.
"We will save her too, when the time comes," Kyle said, as he restarted the glider.
The vehicle's engine came to life with a wild roar, and a second later Mira found herself sweeping through the sand with full speed towards the potential trap. She sighed, and continued to watch the smoking horizon, hoping that they would walk away from this encounter.
It didn't take long for them to reach the ruins. As soon as they stopped at the edge of the burnt settlement, Kyle stepped out of the glider, holding his lightsaber firmly in his hand. Mira followed him soon after, looking around the cursed place.
Seeing it from the distance, she couldn't care less for the village, but from here, it felt much more than a collections of burned buildings and ruined vehicles. These were the homes of people – dead people.
She heard footsteps, and immediately activated her lightsaber. Kyle's blue blade appeared soon after, making the invader stop right there and then. The old man collapsed on the ground before them, his eyes pleaded for mercy, the scar on his side called for immediate aid.
"Are you alright?" Kyle said, deactivating his lightsaber. He leaned close to the old man, helping him to stand on his feet.
Mira looked around, and continued to watch them from a distance.
"They came from nowhere…" the old man said, standing in the brink of unconsciousness. "We tried to stop them, but we didn't stand chance…"
"Where are the others?" Kyle asked. There was little reason to leave them behind – even if they were setting up an ambush, they were where they wanted them to be. There was no gain in delaying the inevitable.
"They took them to the mountains… They said they would execute them…" the old man muttered. "They left me behind, I don't know why…" he continued, then he collapsed in Kyle's hand.
The Jedi Master placed his hand on the wound, trying to help him with the Force. It took several seconds for him to do so. The wait gave some time for Mira to think before her partner would lead them into another setup.
Finally, Kyle let go of the wound, and cautiously carried the old man to his ruined home. Mira waited for him outside, there was no way to know if there were explosives in the building or something even more dangerous.
"He will live," Kyle explained. "They must have carried them in one those ships that flew by. If we hurry, we could get to them before they suffer further harm," he explained, swiftly getting towards their glider.
"That is exactly where Thrawn wants us to do," she answered, making him stop a few steps in front of her.
"I know," Kyle admitted.
"Then why do you want to go there?" Mira asked, although she already suspected the answer to that one.
"Because I'd rather die there then to leave them behind," Kyle answered firmly. "But I guess you can't understand that, do you?"
"I do," she nodded. "My father did the same thing before he left me alone. And for what? Go ahead, save them, I will carry out the mission."
"We are a team," Kyle stated.
"So was I with dad," she answered coldly. "For some reason, everyone loses their minds when it comes to people. That's why they can win. And that's why I always do the opposite."
"So that's it? You just gonna walk ten miles in the desert, kill everyone in the base, and somehow save Rey in the process," Kyle answered.
"I will have a better chance on foot then dead," she answered coldly.
Kyle took a deep breath and hopped on the glider. After he ignited the engine, he was gone in mere seconds. Mira glared at the small vehicle, it was only now that she realized she was holding her lightsaber ready for ignition.
She was ready to go on foot towards the site, but she noticed something in the last moment. One of the speeders was shot only at its side, leaving its engine still operational. It wasn't too comfortable due to its mangled interior, although it was still better than a long, exhilarating walk on the deadly sand.
After a few minutes of checking, she ignited the vehicle's engine, darting towards the ruins of a once flourishing city. The Chimaera was levitating on the sky above it, sending one shuttle after the other to the surface. She would be up against an overwhelming force, yet she still had one advantage:
Thrawn wouldn't expect that she was still after him.
The orbital bombardment didn't even scratch the facility's armored ceiling. The Emperor's servants did an excellent job with its construction, leaving thick metal and shields in the way of those who dared to visit this place. No one could get inside after the battle of Endor, Kylo was sure of it, as his shuttle descended towards the grey, wide field of metal.
The facility itself was meant to be a refuge for the Emperor. The only way to open it was through a signal to be sent once the facility's upper level became unravelled by the bombardment. As the Chimaera sent the right code to the surface, the facility's thick, wide door had opened, letting the shuttle in the heart of the secret site.
"I want to go home…" the young Rey pleaded with tears in her eyes.
"Don't make me silence you again," Kylo shrugged, instinctively glancing back to Thrawn. The Chiss stood behind him with an expressionless face, seemingly not noticing the young girl.
Rey nodded, although Kyle was sure this wasn't the end of their quarrel.
"A remarkable work of art, isn't it?" Thrawn asked, ignoring what the girl said.
"It's a bunker, there is hardly anything remarkable about it," Kylo shrugged as he flew through the hangar's giant door.
Once they were on the other side, seemingly a million lights brightened the area beneath them, revealing the rigid, grey fortifications down the surface. As ordered, Kylo steered the vehicle to the main bunker deep within the facility. That was the most secure location for their experiment.
Looking at the large, dome-like shape of the building, he had to admit, there was something remarkable about this place. He had never seen anything like it before, thus, even as the servant of the First Order, he had to give credit to the creators.
"How do we know that he killed him?" Kylo asked after a few moment of silence, referring to Luke's most expected course of action.
"Once Tenebrae is free of his puppets body, he will have to search for another host, one that can accommodate him the best," Thrawn explained. "Our only indication will likely be that he takes over the young Rey Skywalker's body, in which case, we should move on to the final stage of our mission."
"How could we make sure that he stays here?" he asked afterwards. The Chiss explained his plan previously, yet it seemed impossible that anything could hold something as powerful as Tenebrae in place. "Even if Rey would be stuck here, he could easily choose another body. Just like he chose Snoke."
"Once he has a body, he could only effectively operate around that body, just like at the times of the Old Republic. His main body was occupied over Zakuul, making his other form an easy prey for the Jedi. Thus, even if he finds someone, we will have a much better chance to deal with him," he explained coldly, although they both knew how much was at stake.
"Why wouldn't he?" he asked out of curiosity.
"Once the facility is closed, it would take a Death Star to get through the entrance. When Tenebrae realizes that, by my estimation, he will do everything he could possibly do to get through the entrance in his blind range. However, his abilities are not suited for working with metal, they are best used to destroy life. He won't be able to get through, but on the course of his many trials, he will effectively reduce the population to nothing. It's difficult to find a host in a graveyard, don't you think?" he asked the obvious.
"I guess so," he answered, as they got near the bunker's entrance. He started the landing process. Once they were down there, they could place the girl in a room that could withhold anything – even the wrath of the almighty Sith Emperor.
A loud noise broke the silence. Thrawn accepted to call, only to answer a single Proceed to the message.
"The Jedi have split up," he explained, Kylo felt a momentary joy in his voice.
"That's bad, isn't it?" he asked cautiously.
"Only to those who haven't read the reports about the actions of Mira Wess. The woman is only Jedi in name, thus it's logical that he would abandon Kyle, and go on with her mission alone. She will be here soon, and once she arrives, we will have the second subject to our experiment. Kyle Katarn will follow soon," Thrawn explained.
Kylo gave out a sigh. The majority of their special forces were off to prepare the ambush for Katarn, leaving only one person who could ensure Mira's successful capture.
Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :)