Tech wavered in place, gripping the edge of the Marauder's open door with one hand as he tried to remain upright despite the effects of the sleeping gas. He hadn't quite heard what Hunter said – or rather, he had heard it, but he hadn't really understood it – and now Hunter and Wrecker were running towards the academy. He gazed after them and wondered what in the galaxy they thought they were doing, even though what they were doing was obvious.

The two commandos hesitated briefly at the academy entrance, then darted inside and vanished. Wherever their footsteps had disturbed the ash, it now floated into the air – and then started to drift east, picking up speed as it went.

Tech narrowed his eyes at the wind, which had most definitely not been present fifteen seconds ago. "That would seem to be problematic."

Beside him, Quinlan, who was holding on to the opposite side of the door, followed his gaze and said, "Oh. The storm's coming back."

"Yes." Tech blinked, trying to keep his eyes from closing. "Why did it stop so abruptly?"

"I don't know." The Jedi paused. "But if it keeps up . . . Tech? You alert enough to stay on guard if I leave you and Crosshair here?"

Tech could not provide an answer, because he did not know. The answer to that question depended partially on how alert he needed to be, and partially on whether he and Crosshair would stay behind if Quinlan decided to leave. Shaking his head to clear the fog from his mind, he settled on saying, "Why?"

"Because . . ." Quinlan trailed off, frowning as though in concentration. His eyes were still fixed on the academy. "Something's wrong."

"Well, that is informative." Tech glanced over one shoulder just in time to see Crosshair clumsily inject himself with a stim shot.

Oh, he thought, then shook his head. It was a good idea, but the sedative was wearing off on its own. Already, he was feeling more awake, if not up to his usual mental capacity.

Moving on autopilot, Tech fetched his weapons belt from where he'd dropped it, just inside the cargo hold near the rest of his armor. He was buckling it around his waist when Crosshair stepped forward and jabbed a second hypo into his neck. Tech jumped, but even as he opened his mouth to snap at him, Crosshair caught his gaze and jerked his head towards Quinlan. When Tech followed his gaze, the Jedi was standing on the edge of the open doorway as though ready to jump out.

But he had no reason to leave the ship, unless Hunter commed, did he? Even as Tech thought this, the stim shot's effects hit him and he really registered the situation. Vythia was gone, for some reason; and Hunter and Wrecker were gone, possibly trying to find out what she was up to; and the rest of them were supposed to stay on the Marauder, which, given their track record and how nothing had quite gone according to plan on this mission, meant they probably were not going to stay on the Marauder.

Quinlan turned to face them. "Crosshair – pass me one of those."

The sniper tossed a hypo to him, then vanished into the hold. Tech narrowed his eyes at the ever-increasing wind. If they got inside and the storm went back to the gale it had been before, the team would be trapped inside the academy. It was a significant distance to the shuttle from –

Tech briefly considered hitting himself for being stupid, but since that served no purpose, he ran towards the cockpit and slid into the pilot's seat, calling, "Quinlan, do not jump out yet! I am going to move the ship."

It was the work of seconds to move the Marauder so that it was only a meter from the right edge of the academy door, but already, Tech was having to compensate for the increasingly heavy gusts of wind. As soon as he landed, he put the systems on standby and darted out of the cockpit.

The academy hallway was so high that, despite the height of the Marauder, the ship's roof was still significantly below the level of the ceiling. Quinlan stood in the doorway again, leaning forward as though trying to see farther down the lantern-lit hall.

"What are we doing?" Tech asked. "Waiting for the others, or going in after them?"

"I don't kn –"

The rest of his words were drowned out by the staggering pain that pierced Tech's chest, right over his heart. His first thought was, I have been shot? And the second thought, as he glanced down at his undamaged shirt, was, No, that is impossible.

Before he could reconcile the two thoughts, the sensation vanished. Tech straightened with a gasp and stared at the Jedi, who was gazing at him in surprise, apparently untouched by the sudden attack.

Tech took a deep breath and said, "Quinlan, I believe the leviathan is back."

"Yeah. . ." Quinlan's tone was quiet. He reached over one shoulder to remove his lightsaber from his pack, then jumped down. "One way or another, that thing's going to kill us if we don't kill it first."

Crosshair hadn't gotten his armor on, because it was not fully fixed, but he slung his rifle over one shoulder and stood in the door without comment.

"No one is answering on comms," said Tech, studying the comm unit he had strapped to his wrist. "They cannot have gotten that far – perhaps they have just passed the limit of their range."

"Yeah. Maybe." Quinlan glanced at them. "I'm going in."

Crosshair jumped down. "So are we."

Tech checked the belt he'd fastened on to ensure he was still carrying his datapad and pistols. He hesitated for half an instant at the thought of charging into battle without armor, but putting it on would take him at least a full minute, and armor would do nothing against a leviathan.

Quinlan was already striding into the hall, with none of the hesitancy he'd shown earlier. Hitting the door's seal, Tech jumped after him, landing right in front of the main entrance in several centimeters of ash.

They were about fifteen meters down the hall when, from behind them, the wind returned inexplicably to its previous shrill volume and rapid speed. All three of them turned to stare at it. Then the two clones glanced at Quinlan.

He returned their bewildered gaze, then continued down the corridor. "I think we just made it," he muttered. "That storm let Vythia in, didn't it?"

Tech blinked uncertainly. He could not state with confidence that Quinlan's perception of the situation was wrong, but assigning motives to a natural phenomenon was very hard to understand – even harder to understand, in fact, than assigning emotions to one. "My comm is set on continual transmission," he said. "They should hear us as soon as we are in range."

No one answered while they climbed over the fallen masonry that littered the first section of the hallway. Crosshair was moving a bit less smoothly than usual, and Tech noticed his own coordination was perhaps ten percent lower than normal. Quinlan, though, moved rapidly. His Kiffar physiology was quite likely the cause of his quick recovery from being drugged.

We are fortunate that Vythia failed to realize that he is among the Kiffar who are much less affected by that particular sleeping agent than others of his race, Tech noted. And that we have an enhanced metabolism.

He tried again to comm Hunter, then Wrecker. Receiving no answer, he took out his datapad and started a local scan for heat signatures. "What is our plan?"

"Or do we not have one?" Crosshair added.

"Um, we don't." Quinlan skidded to a halt, glancing distractedly around. "As soon as we meet up with the others and figure out where the leviathan is – we'll figure something out."

Tech held up a hand, watching his screen as the results popped up. There. Hunter and Wrecker were quite close, just nearing the center, and Vythia was in the center . . .

And so was one end of a strange, wavering image that seemed to be covering nearly half of the corridor opposite Hunter. "Ah," he said uncertainly, then held out his datapad to the Jedi. "Quinlan . . .?"

Quinlan glanced at the screen. His eyes widened, and he stepped back, whispering a phrase that sounded Huttese and probably meant something quite vulgar.

Before Tech could do more than wonder about the translation, the Jedi broke into a run, shouting at them over his shoulder. "Hurry! It's in the center!"

Crosshair followed on his heels, and Tech sprinted after him. He tried three times to send Hunter an alert, but there was no confirmation.

Ahead of him, Quinlan yelled, "Hunter, Wrecker, wait!"

They were approaching the central room now, and Tech felt his coordination returning with every step. Adrenaline pounded through his veins until he was moving on autopilot, running significantly faster than usual and keeping pace with Crosshair.

From up ahead came a faint hiss, and the room seemed to waver slightly. Tech gritted his teeth and forced himself to move even faster. Hunter, Wrecker, do not go in there!

But his teammates had already gone into the central room – Tech could see the entrance, and the light from the flaming pillar, but Wrecker and Hunter and Vythia were nowhere in sight.

He nearly tripped when he heard his own voice shouting from up ahead. "Wrecker, wait!" and Crosshair did trip. The sniper regained his balance just as his voice shouted for Wrecker and Hunter to stay where they were.

Quinlan turned halfway around in shock, staring at the corridor to his left, from which the voices seemed to be emanating. Tech was still watching him when he heard the Jedi's voice yell, "Hunter! Hunter, wait!"

A loud, hollow hiss from the central room made them jerk their attention back in that direction. As the sound died away, Tech's head gave a piercing throb, and he swayed dizzily, catching himself against the wall just as Crosshair missed another step.

We are at a severe disadvantage, Tech noted blankly.

Then blaster shots sounded from up ahead, and his headache vanished. Everyone seemed to straighten together and resume running. Distant screams sounded all through the corridor, some farther away, some closer, but none of the voices were familiar, and none were the same.

"Stay back!" Hunter snapped. It sounded like he was behind them, but at almost the same moment Tech heard him cry out from ahead.

Quinlan skidded to a halt outside the central room's main door and flung out an arm to stop Tech and Crosshair.

The creature facing the doorway from across the room was monstrous, both in size and appearance. It was bone-white all over, except for its four eyes and the inside of its open mouth, which were pure black. The half-dozen tentacles that trailed down from its upper jaw were reaching towards Wrecker, who was the only one still standing. Hunter was on his knees near the pillar, fumbling blindly for his gun as the leviathan stared down at him. Several meters away, Vythia was just getting to her feet, her whip in hand but deactivated.

Hunter staggered to his feet and caught sight of them. "Get back to the doors!" he shouted.

Crosshair's rifle was half-lifted as he narrowed his eyes, surveying the leviathan for weak points.

Tech lifted his pistols, ready to cover Hunter's retreat, but Quinlan put a hand on his wrist. "Wait, Tech."

The leviathan was focused on Wrecker, who held his massive vibroblade ready as a half-severed tentacle reached towards him. As soon as it got close enough, he struck directly across the injury and cut off the end of the twitching appendage.

As the monster jerked back, mouth opening, Crosshair fired and the creature's upper left eye vanished.

For an instant, the room seemed drained of all sound. Then the leviathan drew in on itself, head jerking backwards over its massive coils as it let out a long, audible breath, and the distant screams sounded again.

Quinlan, whose hand still hovered near Tech's wrist, watched tensely as Vythia backed away, whip handle clutched to her chest. Hunter and Wrecker turned and ran toward the others, and the leviathan lowered its head nearly to the floor, its three remaining eyes glittering as they focused directly at Crosshair.

The sniper stared it down, not even flinching when the leviathan opened its mouth slightly. Tech fired at its mouth, but the leviathan twitched aside, letting the lasers hit its scaled throat. Just as Crosshair took another shot, the monster ducked its head and inhaled loudly.

Crosshair dropped to one knee, nearly dropping his rifle as he clutched at his head, and Quinlan activated his lightsaber with a flash of green. The leviathan went utterly still, its attention on the Jedi.

Hunter reached Crosshair and spun, firing at the leviathan as Wrecker hauled the sniper to his feet. Hunter gestured them to the left of the doorway, just outside, and pushed Vythia after them.

As his teammates took shelter behind the wall, Tech sent a few more shots at the leviathan's head, to keep its attention divided. Then the monster reared up, muscular body propelling it halfway across the floor as its head wavered in place, and Quinlan grabbed Tech and shoved him to cover with the others.

No one said anything about the fact that hiding was all but pointless. Instead, they huddled against the wall, catching their breaths and listening to the dry, approaching scrapes of scales over stone. Then the rasping stopped, and the screaming started.

Tech's instinct was to cover his ears. He couldn't quite manage, because he was holding both pistols, but the screams were loud. And there were so many of them, overlayed and interspersed with one another. As far as he could tell, each of the voices was different.

A hand grabbed his wrist, and Tech looked up to see Hunter gesturing. He couldn't hear the sergeant above the screams, but Hunter lifted his right hand, flicked two fingers to signal a retreat, and jerked his head toward the main hallway.

Just as Tech started to follow, Quinlan caught him and Hunter by the shoulders. They turned, and the Jedi gestured to a half-open side door a few meters down the hall. One of the living quarters, if Tech remembered correctly.

One after another, the team members ducked into the small room, and Wrecker swung the door shut and leaned against it. The continuous screams were muted by the closed door, which Tech found surprising, considering that the leviathan itself did not appear to be physically making those sounds.

When he looked back at the others, everyone was looking at Vythia, who completely ignored them, except for Quinlan. Her gaze flicked from his lightsaber to his face. "I assume you have a reason for hiding here," she said, her voice only slightly shaky.

Crosshair straightened a little, grimacing as he pressed one hand against his chest.

"Yes." Quinlan turned to Hunter. "We need to kill the leviathan, somehow. We could outrun it and get back to the ship, but it would be pointless. The storm's back, and even if we get on the ship we'll be well within the leviathan's range. Tech got attacked shortly before you guys did."

"Yeah," said Wrecker. "Not to mention, that thing could follow us and attack the Marauder directly."

Hunter nodded slowly, one hand clenching and unclenching at his side as he considered. "Any ideas as to how we can kill it?"

Everyone exchanged glances.

"Not – particularly," Tech admitted.

"Well, I got one." Slinging his pack down, Wrecker let it thud to the floor. "Only one way to kill a monster that big. Blow it up!"

"Like the stormbeast," said Vythia, raising an eyebrow. "But can we use the same method?"

"I dunno," Wrecker said. "You mean 'cause it doesn't need to eat?"

"Precisely." Vythia glanced at Hunter. "What bait would we use?"

"Let's try something else first," said Hunter. "Wrecker, we got enough for a trap?"

"I got plenty." Wrecker held up a proximity mine.

"Good. Let's put them along either side of a corridor."

"Not the main one, though," Wrecker said. "It's too big."

"Too big?" Vythia eyed the mines warily. "But those have – quite the range."

"Yup." Wrecker was already busy setting out his other supplies. "But I don't think they'll even get through that thing's scales unless they're real close up."

Tech pulled out his datapad. "And therefore, the smaller the hallway, the more effective the explosives will be. But Vythia has a point. For this to work, we will need bait."

"It'll have to be one of us," said Hunter. "Even if it doesn't eat physically, it attacks physically. One of us will have to get it to follow - preferably without getting killed."

"Yeah." Quinlan glanced down at his lightsaber. "At least we know its eyes are vulnerable, to an extent."

"Yes," said Vythia. "And even though the leviathan does not depend on physical sight, it tends to attack while looking at one of us."

"And It can't focus on all of us at once, either," Quinlan interrupted, as though just realizing the fact. He glanced at Crosshair and Tech. "The attack it made on us in the hall was weak enough – I mean, it was disorienting, but that was it. . . and, if I'm right, that was while it was busy attacking Hunter."

"Hm." Vythia raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, listening to the continuing screams from outside. "Presuming we act under that supposition, what does it gain us?"

"Time, maybe." Quinlan edged over to the door and leaned against it as though listening. "If we're careful . . ."

He trailed off, and for a moment all that could be heard were the not-quite-there screams. Tech inched a hand toward his datapad screen with the intention of recording them, then decided against it. The idea that he could hear the screams, but that his equipment might not pick them up because the soundwaves didn't actually exist was too unnerving.

Wrecker stood up, having finished arranging his explosives to his satisfaction. "Hey," he said, elbowing Tech. "It knows where we are, right?"

"I had assumed so," Tech answered hesitantly. If it knew where they were, why wasn't it attacking?

Wrecker spoke right into his thoughts. "So why isn't it attacking us?"

". . . It is," snarled Crosshair.

Tech blinked and turned to face him, putting away his datapad as he did so. The sniper was leaning one palm against the wall, slightly curled in on himself as he scowled at the floor.

"Why didn't you say something?" Hunter barked. Without waiting for an answer, the sergeant grabbed his lightsaber. "Quinlan?"

"It's still in the center." The Jedi had already opened the door. "Crosshair, stay back and take out its eyes if you can. I'll keep it busy."

"Try to get it up the stairs," said Wrecker, leaning over Tech's datapad to point at the map he'd pulled up. "I'm gonna plant 'em along this side corridor on the second floor – it'll give me more time and you guys more room to maneuver."

"Got it." Hunter took a deep breath. "All right, let's give him some cover."

Nodding to him, Tech drew both pistols.


Hunter leaned back against the wall beside the doorway, then peered cautiously around the entrance to the central room. The leviathan was coiled around the central pillar, head eight meters in the air as it swayed gently back and forth, unbothered by the cold flames that shot up all around its body. It faced Hunter, but its eyes were closed – it must be recovering from its injuries, or maybe focused on its own attack.

Hunter cast a look at Crosshair, who was looking even more pale and bad-tempered than usual. Clenching his hand around the lightsaber hilt, Hunter hovered a finger over the activator stud and glanced across the doorway to Quinlan.

The Jedi nodded and took a deep breath, then dashed into the room, activating his weapon as he moved. Instantly, the leviathan's eyes opened and it rounded on him, ducking its head so the long tentacles on its face could reach him. Quinlan darted back with an overhand blow at the nearest one; as the leviathan dodged, it turned away from the door.

"Go!" Hunter hissed, and Wrecker dashed across the wide room towards the staircase.

With a signal to the others, Hunter activated his own lightsaber and sprinted after Wrecker, holding the blade to one side. The leviathan unwound itself ferociously from the pillar and lunged, snapping its black jaws repeatedly as it dove after Wrecker. Behind it, Quinlan kicked off the pillar and slashed down, leaving a deep score in the side of its body.

Again the monster coiled in on itself, and the chorus of echoing screams that seemed to constantly surround it faded into silence. Its remaining eyes narrowed at the Jedi, who stepped back with an alarmed look, deactivating his weapon only an instant before the leviathan inhaled.

Hunter didn't feel a thing, but Quinlan slammed to his knees, clutching at his head with a yell.

Skidding to a halt across from him, the sergeant struck, the humming green blade skipping a little as he slashed it across the clammy white scales. He jumped back too late, and the leviathan's muscular body knocked him flying.

Hunter landed hard and rolled sideways, getting back to his feet as Tech darted across his path, firing sideways with both pistols into the monster's neck. Crosshair was standing in the center of the doorway, shooting at its eyes, and Wrecker had disappeared up the stairs.

The leviathan's long, waving tentacles reached for Quinlan, who pushed himself to his feet and stumbled aside, lightsaber blade humming back into existence. As Hunter ran towards him, Vythia appeared out of nowhere and spun, slashing first her whip and then her knife across the creature's underbelly.

To Hunter's surprise, the knife left a deep, bloodless gash. He darted past Vythia to strike across the injury, but as he drew his arm back for a blow, something closed tightly around his right wrist and yanked him back.

Hunter turned instinctively with the pull, pivoting on one foot to grab his knife from its sheath as he struggled not to drop the lightsaber. A blur of motion made him duck. A long tentacle whipped past overhead, but he was too late to dodge the second. The appendage wrapped around his waist and jerked him into the air as the first tentacle squeezed around his arm and hand, trapping his knife.

Dragging Hunter with it, the leviathan reared up until its head nearly touched the ceiling. It shifted lightly from side to side, the motion dizzying from twelve meters up as Hunter wrenched against the hold the monster had on his arm.

Crosshair ran a few steps forward, stopped, and fired into its second upper eye. As the eye vanished, the leviathan jerked so hard that it cracked the top of its skull against the ceiling, which caused a thin scattering of reddish dust to drift down. As its coils loosened ever so slightly, Hunter threw his weight forward and finally managed to twist the lightsaber downward. The blade seared off the last half-meter of the tentacle, which jerked back.

Hunter didn't get the chance to strike again. The support around his waist vanished, and for an instant he thought he was going to fall, but then two tentacles wrapped around him from either side and squeezed violently. Hunter dropped the lightsaber, shouting against the sudden pressure on his chest and waist, and his armor gave an audible crack.

A flurry of lasers flashed past him, and the leviathan dodged all but a few, ducking and twisting its head until the sergeant could barely see straight. He fought and jerked, but the monster's hold was unyielding as it continued to constrict his breathing. Below him, he could hear Vythia's whip coiling and slashing repeatedly, followed by the explosion of a thermal. The loops around him stopped tightening, and Hunter let out a gasp of relief.

Wrecker's finished the trap, he realized, just as a slow trembling quiver traveled through the leviathan's entire body. Casting a look at the floor, Hunter caught a glimpse of the Jedi throwing his full weight against both lightsaber hilts as he slowly drove the blades into the snake's lower body.

The leviathan jerked and shuddered, and its lower jaw fell open – then it hissed sharply, and the tentacles around Hunter moved, shoving the sergeant directly into the black interior of its mouth.

Vythia shouted his name in alarm as the tentacles jerked away, leaving him between the rows of ebony teeth, but Hunter hardly noticed. He didn't even realize he had moved until he was standing upright on its slippery tongue, driving his knife up to the hilt in the black roof of its mouth.

Even as he ripped it free, the air shifted around him and Hunter jumped, clutching desperately at the lower left fang with one hand. He hung by his fingertips for an instant; then a tentacle slapped against his side, and he lost his grip and fell.

He twisted instinctively, trying to take the impact on his side rather than his back, but there was no impact – Hunter opened his eyes in shock. He was only a meter from the floor, and Quinlan was a short distance away, reaching towards him with one hand. His other hand still gripped a lightsaber, while Hunter's blade was embedded in the snake's body, crackling slowly against its flesh. Vythia stood to Quinlan's left, and Crosshair was backing away, lifting his rifle for another shot.

Then the Jedi relaxed his fingers, and as the invisible grip loosened, Hunter twisted to land on his feet. Breathing quickly, he stepped back, feeling dizzy all over.

"Hunter, come on!" Someone grabbed him by the shoulder, and he jerked around to see Tech, who was pulling him aside and shouting.

"Hunter!" he said. "Wrecker set the explosives, we have to lead it to the stairs!"

Crosshair, who was already at the stairs, leaned back and lifted his rifle. "Quinlan, move it!"

The Jedi yanked Hunter's lightsaber out of the leviathan, deactivated both blades, and ran for the stairs with Vythia two steps behind him.

When Crosshair fired again, Hunter didn't have to look to know that he'd taken out another eye. The leviathan screeched outright, flinging its whole body from side to side, then slammed its head against the pillar and curled in on itself.

"Hurry!" yelled Wrecker. "Come on, get it up the stairs!"

The monster threw itself fully to the ground and slithered forward with the speed of a tram, straight at Crosshair. Vythia leaped onto its back as it passed her and drove her knife through its scales. Hunter was right behind her. Their combined attack slowed it just enough that Crosshair managed to scramble out of the way.

Then Wrecker threw a grenade at its head, blackening the entire left side of its face. As it jerked to the side, Crosshair tossed his rifle to Hunter, who caught it reflexively with one hand. Before the creature could recover, Crosshair flicked a reflector at the wall to his left, drew his pistol, and fired over one shoulder. The laser deflected into the leviathan's open mouth, and it stopped short. Again, that strange silence seemed to fill the room.

The creature was irritated and in pain, but Hunter could tell that it wasn't anywhere near dead yet. He slid off its back and sprinted for the stairs, Vythia close on his heels. Tech, who was halfway up already, fired over the rest of the team as they dashed towards him. As they ran, Hunter tossed Crosshair his rifle, and the sniper hung back a little to throw another reflector against the wall at the head of the stairs.

"Wrecker, which hallway?" Hunter called. His ribs ached as he turned sharply, and he touched a hand against his cuirass, grimacing at the long crack that extended down the right side of his armor.

"Over here!" Wrecker ran out the side door of the second level's central room and skidded to a halt, then turned right and pointed. The hallway he'd picked a few meters narrower than the main corridor – hopefully, that distance would make the difference.

Hunter paused between one step and the next to study the mines and grenades and detpacks that Wrecker had placed along the entire hall. "Wrecker . . ."

"Yeah, we're not goin' through that," Wrecker answered, and held up the linked detonator. "Just our decoy."

"That's me," Quinlan said, pushing past Tech.

Wrecker nodded. "Well, don't step on the red lasers. Everyone else get out of sight."

"I can't tell if the leviathan's even following." Crosshair flicked another reflector to the floor in front of the hall entrance and peered at it. "Not yet."

"Well, it's following," Quinlan said, catching his breath. "Just – slowly."

"Yes. . ." Vythia turned on her heel to face the center room. "But I do not understand why it does not kill us." She sounded too calm, as though she was frightened and trying not to show it.

"It tried," Crosshair muttered. He eyed his reflector placement and added another to the left-hand wall.

"Yes, but not from the distance it attacked us from earlier," Tech noted. "I suspect that its eyes were essential to its – ranged attacks."

"Strange," said Vythia, as everyone slipped into one of the rooms directly opposite the trapped hallway.

"What's strange?" Wrecker asked.

"A non-physical ability requiring a physical sense . . ." She smirked a little at Quinlan and added, "Does that not seem strange?"

Quinlan simply gazed at her and then handed Hunter his lightsaber. The sergeant took it with an uneasy look at Vythia, who ignored him.

"Wrecker?" she said, shifting her whip-hilt from one hand to the other. "I hope you have enough explosives."

"Yeah, no kidding!" Wrecker said fervently, not seeming to have noticed her odd look at the Jedi. "I used a lot!"

"Well, let us hope it is enough," Tech said, looking at his datapad. "The leviathan is just starting up the stairs. It appears to be getting cautious."

"We can't have that," Crosshair said, and set his rifle against the wall. Leaning through the doorway, he fired his pistol three times before stepping back.

The distinct pinging sound of the lasers bouncing off the reflector to strike the leviathan was surprisingly loud, and the chorus of disjointed screams that followed made everyone wince.

Hunter glanced down at the weapon in his hand and hefted it. "Quinlan, if this doesn't work . . . then what?"

The Jedi folded his arms. "Well, I guess we'll have to try hacking its head off. And believe me, with the armor that thing has, it'll take us forever to finish the job."

They looked at each other.

"We could try stabbing it through the skull," suggested Hunter, smirking a little despite himself. "It would probably be faster."

"Or we could try the explosives first," Wrecker said, shoving his helmet back on his head. He grinned maniacally. "And worry about the rest after – if there's anything left of it, anyway."

Crosshair rejoined them, aimed at the reflector on the ground, and shot it. The laser bounced up to hit the disc on the left wall and redirected towards the main door. The sound of it burning into the leviathan's face told Hunter exactly how close it was, and he tightened his grip on the lightsaber hilt, his momentary humor vanishing.

"Okay," he said. "Quinlan, you're up."

The Kiffar darted into the hallway and stood motionless for an instant before dashing across into the trapped hall. He jumped easily over each of the laser triggers, moving smoothly.

Then scales rasped heavily across the stones just outside. The loud, harsh hiss that filled the hall close to the floor made Hunter squint against the stabbing headache that followed. Quinlan staggered, still ten meters from safety. When he started moving again, he was moving clumsily.

The leviathan's head was still out of sight above the top of the smaller room's door, but Hunter could feel when it started to turn, heading into the trapped hallway. All but holding his breath, the sergeant willed Quinlan to move faster. If the Jedi was within range of even one of those mines when the leviathan set off the first one, he'd be blown to bits.

The sergeant couldn't see down the hall anymore, because the leviathan's body was blocking his vision as it coiled almost suspiciously in front of the entrance. And right now, Hunter's senses weren't keen enough to tell him when Quinlan would be at a safe range.

Then his helmet comm clicked, and the Jedi whispered raggedly, "I'm clear."

Hunter leaned back against the wall while his teammates did the same on the opposite side, sheltered by the sides of the doorway, but the leviathan still wasn't moving. "It's not following," he answered.

"I know. I'm gonna try something. Wrecker, just stay ready on the big ones."

Hunter looked up at Wrecker, who nodded that he'd heard.

The leviathan hissed again, and everyone flinched. It was attacking all of them now, more weakly than before but still harshly enough. Then pistol shots sounded from down the hallway, and the headache vanished all at once. Hunter leaned forward again, watching carefully.

The monster's huge coils shifted, and it started to inch towards Quinlan. The injuries that Hunter and the others had inflicted on it were slowing it down a little, but not much – only just enough that it was unwilling to simply charge after them.

But after the twelfth laser that Quinlan fired, the leviathan finally seemed to make up its mind. Its long, dead-white body slowly unfurled until once again it was hovering high in the air, towering above the Jedi. Then it heaved itself forward, crashing down all at once along the line of traps.

"GO!" yelled Hunter at the top of his lungs, just as Wrecker pressed the detonator.

Explosion after explosion shocked through the floor beneath them, one after the other in an ever-increasing pattern of vibrations and sound until Hunter steadied himself against the door's edge. The leviathan's high-pitched squeal sounded even above the echoing roar of the explosives detonating, and everyone cringed.

The sound all stopped at once – then the heavy thud of the leviathan striking against the floor, combined with a sudden burst of faint screams, made them tense again. But the sounds vanished, and complete silence fell.

Hunter stepped cautiously through the doorway, Tech just beside him. The leviathan's twisted body, torn open all down its sides, lay sprawled across the hallway, its head bent at a right angle. But there was still no blood, and Hunter paused, holding up a cautioning hand.

At the other end of the hall, Quinlan was also slowly approaching the leviathan, his lightsaber ready in one hand. He stopped abruptly and stepped back, blade snapping into existence.

"It is still alive," Tech stated blankly.

"What?" Wrecker flung out his hands. "But how? It's practically in two pieces!"

The leviathan hadn't so much as twitched, but when Hunter looked back at its head, the monster's remaining eye was completely alert and staring right at him.

Crosshair fired, but it turned its head away, dragging itself into a partial coil despite its horrible injuries. It didn't just inhale, this time; it inhaled without stopping.

Vythia gasped. "No – it is drawing on the Force, it is attempting to heal itself!"

The dragging sound of the monster breathing paused, then returned, louder than before. Hunter's vision whited out, and it was only the thuds against the floor that alerted him to the fact that he and all the others had fallen. The attack lasted barely a few seconds and then withdrew, leaving everyone panting and gasping as though they'd run a mile.

When Hunter's vision returned, he realized that the leviathan was still breathing, and one person was still under attack – at the end of the hall, Quinlan had collapsed and was writhing soundlessly.

Hunter shook his head hard to clear it, then stumbled to his feet. "Wrecker, get him out!"

"I got him! Take these." Wrecker shoved two grenades at Vythia and dashed down the hall.

Hunter grabbed one grenade from her, and he and Vythia rushed after Wrecker. As Vythia armed a grenade and shoved it into the creature's torn side, the leviathan convulsed and heaved a shrill breath between its teeth. Quinlan flipped onto his back, hands pressed against his face as he let out a hoarse scream.

Hunter paused long enough to shove his own grenade in after Vythia's, then dashed after her. The muted explosion that followed made the leviathan's breaths stutter but not stop.

As Wrecker grabbed Quinlan and hoisted him over one shoulder, Tech shot out the leviathan's last eye. The monster's sharp inhalations were almost convulsive now, but even Hunter stabbing his lightsaber deep into its torn jaw didn't make them stop.

He withdrew the blade with a hard yank. The leviathan opened its black mouth, teeth gleaming dangerously, then closed it with a heavy snap, as though it lacked the energy to attack again. But it didn't stop breathing.

Hunter stepped back disbelievingly. Then, from down the hall, he heard Wrecker shouting frantically for help.

Leaving the leviathan behind, the sergeant ran. Wrecker had only just headed down the next corridor –

He forced himself to run faster, then skidded around the corridor and froze. There was no one in sight.

Wrecker's voice called again, though, somewhere ahead and to the right. "Hunter, hurry! You gotta help!"

"Wrecker, where are you?" Hunter slapped his transmitter. "Wrecker! Answer me, where are you? Quinlan! Wrecker!"

No answer, only the fading yells ahead of him. It sounded like Wrecker, and probably Quinlan, were getting dragged off somewhere – but where, and by what, and how?

When Hunter reached the end of the next hallway, he turned and skidded to a stop, staring from one end to the other. Only the flickering green lanterns moved in the empty corridor, and still he could hear the voices, always farther ahead.

With a frantic curse, Hunter turned to face the others, to demand that Tech find them on sensors. Crosshair slid to a halt beside him, breathing quickly, and Vythia stopped also, her black eyes wide as she looked at Hunter. No one else was behind them.

"Where's Tech?" Hunter demanded, his stomach turning to ice. "Crosshair! Where's Tech?!"