Hunter moved slowly across the narrow bridge that spanned the chasm. The walls beneath him flickered dizzyingly in the pulsing green light, and he held his hands to either side, focusing his gaze on the opposite end of the bridge. They were only about a third of the way across, and already Hunter was feeling the effect of the long, dizzying drop below him.
And if he was, Wrecker certainly was. On top of the fact that he already had a bad head for heights, he hadn't recovered from his concussion, and his balance was off because he was carrying the Jedi.
Hunter took another careful step, considered pausing, and decided against it in favor of getting across quicker. "Wrecker," he said. "How you holding up?"
"Holdin' up fine!" Wrecker said, in a voice that was unconvincingly loud. "Uh . . . I'll be better once we're on the other side."
"Right." The bridge narrowed as they passed the center, and Hunter slowed even more. "Well, we're almost there."
He half-expected Tech to correct his use of the word 'almost', but there was no sound from either Tech or Crosshair. Quinlan was also utterly silent, and Hunter hoped he didn't regain consciousness until they were on solid ground. The last thing Wrecker needed was for Quinlan to wake up suddenly and start struggling.
"Hunter," Tech said. "Vyth – Zenaya is on the ninth level. She has slowed her pace, but not much. I suspect her goal is to reach the Phoenix and leave."
Hunter took another two steps before he really registered that. "The Phoenix? Why not the Marauder?"
"I expect it is because she knows how to pilot the Phoenix. And there were things on board that she might need."
"Things," Hunter repeated. "Such as?"
"Such as the five red crystals." Tech's voice was restrained. "And whatever else Vythia had on board that Zenaya might have tricked her into bringing along. We did not make a thorough search of the contents of her ship."
Hunter crossed the last few meters, then stepped off the bridge and turned. "We need to get to the Marauder, fast."
"What gave you that idea?" Crosshair muttered absently.
Hunter ignored him. "We'll fly up to the roof and take the Phoenix so Zenaya can't leave Malachor. The Jedi Council can deal with her later."
"Good idea," Wrecker said, stepping off the bridge. He let out a sigh of relief. "I don't want to go chasing around after her. . . Or have her comin' after us."
Tech put away his datapad and frowned at the stairway that led back up the shaft to the central room of the academy. "Hunter, can you feel the leviathan moving?"
"The leviathan?" Hunter placed a hand flat against the wall, but there were none of the slow, telltale vibrations. "No. Can't you see it?"
"Not currently."
As they started up the stairs, Hunter gestured Wrecker ahead of him. At this point, he'd seen enough stone steps to last him a lifetime. This was absolutely the last time he intended to climb or descend any stairs in Trayus. Once they reached the central room, there was a straight walk to the door and the Marauder. And at this point, if anything got in their way, Hunter would probably shoot it, even if he couldn't kill it.
Wrecker moved steadily enough, but the sergeant could tell by the way he kept giving faint jerks that he was still dizzy. Hunter kept half his attention on him, in case he suddenly lost his balance, and the other half on reaching the top of the stairs.
Vythia . . . You don't know what you're doing. . .
Hunter frowned. Quinlan had been absolutely certain, when he said that. But why hadn't the Jedi told Vythia what would happen, if she continued the ritual? Why hadn't he warned her that Zenaya would be – released? Hadn't Quinlan known what would happen?
As he continued upward, Hunter trailed one hand against the stairwell wall. How could Vythia have been so certain about what would happen, and still been so wrong? How was it that she hadn't known that completing the ritual would bring Zenaya back?
And how in the name of the Force had a Sith woman, dead for thousands of years, come back? None of it made any sense, and at last Hunter had to make an effort to stop considering it. All he could do was to focus on the next goal. Maybe he could ask questions about what had just happened later, when they were safe. Not until then, though.
But the cool, mocking look in Zenaya's eyes stayed in the back of his mind, and her voice sounded in his head again. You should have left when you had the chance.
What had the Sith woman meant by that? If she intended to kill them, why hadn't she, when she had them all at her mercy? They could have died right then, and no one would ever have known.
When Hunter thought about it a little, he realized how strange it would have been if the mission just – stopped. Would he and his squad have been listed as MIA, or simply removed from the system? What about Quinlan? Only Cody – and maybe General Kenobi – knew for sure where Hunter and his team had gone, and even they didn't know that the team had left Nar Shaddaa.
As far as Quinlan was concerned, Hunter was sure the Jedi Council wouldn't bother to look for him even if he did vanish – not once they realized he'd gone to Malachor, anyway. If they even managed to track him that far.
Hunter took another step and tripped, reaching out in surprise to catch himself against Wrecker. Somehow, he'd failed to notice that he was at the top of the stairs. The team had entered the central room, and Crosshair was already heading back to their campsite. Wrecker hesitated, then trailed after him, still carrying the unconscious Jedi.
Hunter knelt and put both hands against the floor, aware of Tech hovering to his left. He couldn't feel the leviathan moving at all. Maybe it had finally died . . .? Hunter narrowed his eyes. Given their experience so far, that was probably wishful thinking on his part.
Getting up, the sergeant brushed his gloves free of ash and went to rejoin the others with Tech close on his heels. Wrecker had just set Quinlan down and was leaning him back against the wall. The Jedi's eyes were open, now, and he looked almost . . . too normal, given what had just happened.
Hunter eyed him worriedly. Quinlan's expression was neutral – calm, even – and the sergeant didn't trust it at all. It was a good thing the team wouldn't need the Force to leave Trayus . . . presuming that Zenaya allowed them to leave.
Clenching his teeth against a prickle of fear, Hunter felt for his knife, then turned to Tech. "Do one more scan. I want to know if she's got another storm building near the Marauder."
As Tech obeyed, Hunter joined the other two commandos in collecting their belongings from the ground and stuffing them into packs.
Quinlan listened carefully to the tense, quiet voices around him. He could hear what they were saying; he just couldn't understand the words, even though he was sure it was the commandos talking. When Quinlan touched the floor, he realized that they were no longer in the Core. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten up here . . . or where exactly the others were.
After a moment, though, none of those things really seemed to matter. He drew in quick, light breaths and wondered why he seemed to be falling.
There was motion nearby, and some more muttered conversation, but it was drowned out by Zenaya's cold voice, which kept sounding in his head. You would have made an excellent Sith.
Quinlan shifted, drawing one knee up slightly. He should be scared of the truth in her words, but he wasn't. But Zenaya had also said he refused to use the Dark Side. She was wrong about that. The ease with which he could use the Dark Side should probably have frightened him. It didn't. He just – didn't care. It was too late anyway.
Eventually, he realized that someone's hand was on his right arm. He glanced down, then closed his eyes. The hand closed tighter on his wrist, and a vaguely insistent voice sounded in his ears. Inhaling sharply, Quinlan shoved the hand away.
His left forearm burned at the movement, bringing things into clearer focus. When he opened his eyes, he finally realized that it was Hunter kneeling next to him.
"Quinlan," the sergeant said in a low voice. "Come on, we've got to leave."
He sounded so painfully earnest that Quinlan almost laughed. They couldn't. If Zenaya didn't want them to leave, they wouldn't even make it ten steps. Quinlan wondered what it was that she had planned, and why. She was aware of all of them, and where they were; and that was all Quinlan knew.
"Quinlan!" Hunter's tone was unusually taut. "Come on, snap out of it! Zenaya's gone, and we –"
"No, she's not." Tilting his head back against the wall, Quinlan stared up at the deeply shadowed ceiling, wondering where exactly Zenaya was. "Vythia's gone."
Hunter shot a fearful glance at the stairwell, then at something out of Quinlan's line of vision. "Crosshair, Wrecker. Get him out of here."
Hands pulled at Quinlan and lifted him into a standing position. When someone told him to follow Wrecker, he obeyed, his attention focused on the chasm that led down to the Core. He had gone down there without intending to. Vythia had intended to. . . But for some reason, she hadn't actually known she'd need Quinlan to complete her ritual.
And then, when Vythia finished the ritual and recognized what was really happening, she had sounded so desperate.
Quinlan shivered violently and nearly walked into the wall to his left. Something had happened after he stabbed the shadowy, noncorporeal form of the Togruta woman. As he remembered it, he froze, clenching his hands over his upper arms to erase the memory of Zenaya's ghostly embrace.
He'd stabbed her, Force knew why – he'd known it wouldn't work – and in return, the Togruta woman had put her arms around him in a mocking gesture of thanks and affection. It was only at that moment, when her presence attacked him through the Force yet again, that Quinlan finally, really understood. He recognized who it was whom Vythia had released, and knew how Zenaya had gotten a hold over the Nautolan woman.
Someone prodded Quinlan in the back. He glanced up, vaguely noting that it was Wrecker, and started walking again. They were in the hall now. The Marauder was just outside, and there was no storm raging – because Zenaya had been the storm that had prevented them from leaving Trayus. Bastila Shan's crystal had made her retreat, briefly; or so Quinlan had thought. Maybe she had only changed tactics, though. The storm had stopped without reason, and Vythia had run back into the academy.
Vythia must have thought she was taking advantage of the lull in the storm. She couldn't have known that there was a Force-spirit hovering nearby. She'd just seen her chance and taken it, never suspecting that Zenaya was helping things work in her favor. If Hunter and Wrecker hadn't gone in after Vythia – and if Quinlan hadn't gone in after them, they wouldn't have been trapped inside again, and the ritual would never have happened.
Quinlan stumbled, ice crawling down his ribs. Somehow, Zenaya had known, or guessed, that they would go after Vythia. She had been studying them all, ever since they'd arrived at Trayus . . . Or since they'd landed on Malachor.
No. Earlier. The presence in the Phoenix, the one Quinlan had felt while meditating when the two shuttles were in hyperspace. The whisper that had brushed against his mind when he first met Vythia. All of that – Zenaya had been present the whole time.
"I should have known," he said aloud. "I should have known!"
Someone asked a question, but Quinlan hardly noticed. A slow anger was burning at him. Everything that had happened, everything they'd done – all the choices they'd made, or thought they'd made. None of it mattered. They'd played directly into Zenaya's hands. Maybe some of their choices hadn't even been their own. It didn't make sense for Hunter to run back into the academy after Vythia. Why did he think of it? Why did I agree? We should have left Vythia behind when she went back inside.
But they hadn't, and now Vythia was worse than dead, and Zenaya knew where they were. Quinlan wondered if he should reconstruct his shields and hope that it would help to block her, at least a little.
No sooner had the thought occurred to him than Zenaya's presence hovered tangibly, and he felt a cool sense of scorn from outside of himself.
He stopped mid-step, then tripped as someone walked into him.
"Sorry," Wrecker apologized. "Hey – you feeling okay? You keep starting and stopping."
"Yeah, I'm fine," Quinlan mumbled. He waited for Wrecker to go past him, then pressed his hands hard against his eyes in an attempt to refocus.
How long has it even been since Zenaya left the Core? Wait – where are we?
He looked up, and saw a glimmer of green-tinged light beyond the main doorway of Trayus. It was barely two hundred meters to the outside of the academy. Hunter was leading, with Crosshair and Tech a couple paces behind him, and Wrecker – who had slowed to glance back at Quinlan – was just behind them.
"We're almost there!" Wrecker said, in a voice that was half-encouraging, half-hopeful.
Quinlan stared after him, then followed without comment. They were almost there, and yet they had absolutely no guarantee that they would actually get through the door. But there was no option except to try – not unless they wanted to chase Zenaya up the center stairwell.
Ten meters from the door, Hunter froze. He took off his helmet, stared through the doorway for several seconds, then turned to face the others, wearing an expression of utter disbelief.
Crosshair and Tech shoved forward next to him to peer outside.
"Oh," said Tech.
"Guess we should have expected that." Crosshair's tone was almost numb.
Quinlan walked over to Hunter and stepped past him. From here, he could just see the edge of the Marauder . . . and the white head and black fangs of the leviathan, which was draped over the ship.
Wrecker watched the Jedi warily, not sure he wanted to know what it was that had surprised and scared the others so much.
Tech told him anyway. "The leviathan is on the Marauder."
"It moved?" Wrecker demanded loudly, rounding on him. "After everything we did to it, it moved?! That thing was torn in half, almost!"
"And yet it appears to have been fully healed." Tech blinked and glanced sideways, mouth quirking uneasily. "I do not know how."
"Zenaya," Hunter gritted out. "It must have been. That's why she didn't kill us. Maybe it wasn't worth the trouble. She must have healed the leviathan and sent it to wait for us."
Wrecker really didn't like the sound of that. He moved cautiously over to Hunter and peered out. The snake was healed, just like Tech said – well, mostly. When it opened its mouth to hiss, he could see that its black fangs were still broken and cracked like they'd been earlier. There were weird scars along the sides of its mouth and body, where it had been blown open. Its eyes were missing, too, but that didn't keep the leviathan from facing the entrance like it could see them. As Wrecker ducked back, the monster's head swayed to follow his movement.
It could attack them from a distance, even without its vision. Worse, it was on the Marauder, which meant that Wrecker couldn't have used big explosives on it, even if he had any. . . which he didn't.
He turned to Hunter, waiting for a suggestion, but the sergeant didn't look like he had any ideas at all. Neither did Crosshair or Tech. Quinlan just stood, gazing out at the leviathan, utterly motionless.
Wrecker frowned. There was a massive snake out there, ready to eat them, and everyone was just standing around – waiting to die, or something.
"Okay," Wrecker said loudly. "Do we try to get up the center before Zenaya does? Or do we try and kill it?"
"Don't be an idiot," Crosshair spat. "We can't kill it."
"And we're not going after Zenaya," Hunter said sharply. "That would be suicide."
"So's this," Wrecker said, folding his arms. "Hunter, we gotta do something. Unless you want to stand around and wait for it to kill us anyway."
"No . . ." Hunter shook his head slowly. "We're not –" He hesitated, and Wrecker could practically see him groping about for an idea. "I don't – Cross, could you try to get through its skull?"
"With this?" Crosshair hefted his rifle almost sarcastically. "After Wrecker blew off its head and didn't kill it?"
"I don't have another idea." Hunter took off his helmet. "Do you?"
"No." Crosshair studied the leviathan, then shook his head. "I can hit in the eye, maybe a couple of times. No promises once it starts moving."
"Hm," said Tech, and looked up at the monster again.
As Crosshair stepped forward, Hunter put out a hand to stop him. "Tech? You have a better idea?"
"I believe so," Tech said.
Wrecker noticed that he was accessing the Marauder's controls.
"Before we entered Trayus, I locked the laser cannons in position. I cannot adjust them from here, but I can fire them. If the leviathan shifts a few meters forward –" Tech paused, a calculating gleam in his eyes. "We will not succeed in killing it, but we might stun and injure it, perhaps even weaken it so that it slides off the ship. If we can get onboard, we have a chance of escape."
"And if it coils around the ship?" Crosshair asked.
"We should be able to take off anyway," Tech replied. "And I would be very much impressed if even a leviathan such as this could cling to the Marauder for very long after leaving the atmosphere."
"Yeah," said Hunter, brightening slightly. "Even if it manages not to suffocate, it would eventually let go – and then burn up on reentry."
"Thank you for pointing that out." Tech fidgeted with his pistol. "Of course, there is the risk of the leviathan killing us with before we take off."
Crosshair glanced sideways at him. "Not to mention the risk of it killing us with its mental attacks before we can even get on the shuttle."
"Yeah." Wrecker rubbed his head and squinted against the faint blurriness. "But if we don't do something, we're stuck here, and the leviathan can come in after us any time it wants." He paused, finally realizing that Quinlan hadn't said a word during the entire discussion. "Uh – Quinlan? You have any other ideas?"
The Jedi didn't answer. He simply stood where he was for a long, long moment, gazing out at the leviathan. "Yes," he said at last. His voice was harsh and furious.
Hunter exchanged a look with Crosshair, then turned to the Jedi. "Quinlan?"
Quinlan shoved past him and stalked over to the door, moving as easily as if he'd never been hurt. It made Wrecker uneasy, after the way he'd been stumbling and dragging along for the past half-hour. It wasn't normal at all.
With a brief glance at his teammates, Hunter followed Quinlan. The others fell in behind him, climbing over the fallen masonry and edging forward until they were within a meter of the door.
Quinlan stood beneath it, staring at the bone-white leviathan, which had lifted its head to face him directly. The monster was looped around and around the Marauder, which looked small compared to its massive bulk. When Quinlan took a step forward, the leviathan's black mouth opened in a hiss. Instantly, Wrecker felt the familiar pull and twist of the sudden headache that accompanied it.
The others flinched, too, except for Quinlan. He took another step forward, reached down and out with both arms, and then curled his fingers upward, like he was trying to lift something. To Wrecker's surprise, the leviathan's head wrenched forward.
The leviathan writhed once, shifted, then snapped its jaws shut and uncoiled one loop of its long body from the ship. Quinlan hardly even moved, but the leviathan twisted again, tossing its head back with a sound almost like a squeal as its head and neck slithered down over the front of the ship.
Crosshair cringed and lifted his rifle, and this time it was Wrecker who stopped him. He didn't even know why he did it, really; he just thought that right now, no one had better distract the leviathan or Quinlan.
Hunter moved to stand beside Quinlan, and realization flashed across his face. "Tech!"
With a sharp nod, Tech pressed a button. The familiar sound of the Marauder's heavy cannons sounded as they fired – three, four, five, six times, straight into the back of the leviathan's skull.
The monster stiff, then went briefly limp. Quinlan raised his arms slowly, centimeter by centimeter, like he was struggling to lift a massive weight.
Wrecker stared, mouth open, as the leviathan was lifted bodily into the air – up, and up, until Quinlan stood with his head ducked, arms above his head, while the monster twisted slowly, a full two meters above the Marauder.
The headache was getting worse and worse, and Wrecker shook his head and blinked hard. Beside him, Hunter hissed in pain. They were running out of time.
Then, from the top of the academy, came the unmistakable sound of a shuttle's engine coming to life. Snarling, Crosshair darted forward and whipped his rifle up for a shot, but the Phoenix flew off in the opposite direction. Within seconds, the sound had faded from hearing.
Hunter let out his breath explosively, Crosshair lowered his rifle with a curse, Tech and Wrecker glanced at each other – and Quinlan relaxed. He didn't lower his arms or release the leviathan, but he straightened, as though the heavy weight had become light. His face was sharp with fury, and all of a sudden, he hardly had to try to lift the creature.
With a yell, he shoved his hands forward as hard as he could. The leviathan's massive body hurtled weightlessly through the air to land against the ground fifty meters away. It shrieked and coiled in on itself, struggling to rise.
Quinlan took another step, lifted his right hand, and pushed it forward. Despite the monster's visible struggles, it was sent flying and slid sideways into a deep pit of dioxis.
There was a moment of silence, followed by a distant but audible crackling of poison against scales, and then the piercing screams of the leviathan, from deep in the ground.
Quinlan lowered his hand and stalked towards the Marauder without a second glance in the direction of the shrieking creature.
