Yavin IV, 10 ABY
Kira Organa closed her eyes, listening to the birds singing in the treetops. Individual strains of an avian symphony rippled through the warm, humid morning air. Kira marveled at the arguments, counterpoints, and rhythmic punctuations of hundreds of different bird species woven into a tapestry of echoing song. As the sounds washed over her, she opened herself to the Force the way Master Zevala had taught her. At first, all she sensed was a pink glow through her closed eyelids and the sounds of birdsong in the trees above. A piercing shriek punctuated the tapestry of sound, and her awareness surged through the sonic tapestry, homing in on a large white bird feeding a nest full of babies. The mental image of the mother bird became clearer and clearer, and as that image emerged, so too did her sense of Ben Solo nearby. She could feel his frustration as he struggled to follow Master Zevala's instructions. Kira felt Zhey'la Vendez's presence next to Ben. She, too, grappled with inner uncertainty. Master Taila Zevala stood nearby, a detached, tranquil presence. In Kira's mind, she heard Master Zevala's voice praise, Very good, Kira. You feel it, don't you?
Kira felt the corner of her mouth twitch, but doing so pulled her focus away from the Force. She settled the emotion, then tuned back into the vibrations and pulsations around her. This time, she focused on the subtle currents flowing through the ground beneath her. The currents flowed between the trees, rising and falling, moving backward and forward. In a flash of insight, it occurred to her: they're talking to each other!
Yes, they are, Kira, Master Zevala's voice affirmed in her mind. If you look close enough, you see that everything communicates to everything else.
Again, Kira smiled, but this time, she did not lose her focus. A bright, boundless joy spread through her body as she recognized that the trees were speaking to each other in their slow, patient language. Kira imagined them spelling out syllables that might take decades to complete. She wondered what they might say to her if she were to sit here for years, waiting for them to complete a sentence.
"I can't do it!"
A boy's voice snapped her out of her meditation, and she opened her eyes to see Ben Solo hanging his head. Zhey'la had also emerged from her meditation, and she looked toward Ben, caught between worry and insecurity.
"That's ok, Ben," Master Zevala soothed in her quiet, deep voice. "Sometimes it takes a Padawan a long time to see how the Force binds us all."
"But Kira can do it," Ben moaned.
"Kira is older, Ben," Master Zevala reminded him. "We talked about how this would take more time for you."
Ben shot a glance at Kira, and she felt the funny tickle of a pair of small feet running up her shoulder. She turned to see BD-1 perched on her shoulder. Ever since Master Kestis's death, the droid had attached to her. Kira, welcoming his company, had embraced his companionship. Kira closed her eyes again, longing to return to the whisperings of trees. As if from a distance, she heard Master Zevala say, "Let's try again, Ben."
As Master Zevala's attention turned to Ben and Zhey'la, Kira opened her eyes again, gazing around the clearing. At the edge of the clearing, a towering tree draped in vines rose into a thin layer of mist drifting overhead. An inspiration occurred to her, and she thought, If I climb the tree, I can hear it better! BD-1 cocked his head at her, and Kira felt there was some warning in the droid's expression.
"It's ok," she grinned. "Come on!"
BD-1 leapt forward, climbing up her arm and perching on her shoulder. She felt his feet grip her shoulder, and smiling, Kira rose from her feet and strayed away from the small group. Kira examined the tree for the easiest way to the top. She spied the lowest branch, then took off at a run, bounding across the clearing and leaping up to the lowest branch and grabbing hold of it with her hands.
Not too far, Kira, Master Zevala warned.
Yes, Master, Kira affirmed as she pulled herself up. A boost from the Force lifted her into the air, and she landed atop the branch, steadying her balance with her arms. Her smile grew as she glanced up at the next branch several feet above her head. She leapt, bouncing off the trunk of the tree and grabbing a thick vine, which swung her up and onto the next branch. BD-1 squawked, both seemingly frightened and delighted. With several dexterous bounds, she reached the crown, and from below, she felt Master Zevala's warning: That's far enough, Kira.
Kira perched atop the tree and gazed across the canopy of the jungle. BD-1 clucked contentedly as he perched on her shoulder, announcing various species of birds as they soared past. Kira traced a flock of large red cranes soaring over the mists, and she closed her eyes in pleasure as the sun's warmth washed over her face. The tree's whisperings were different here. With a thrill, she recognized that the crowns told different stories than the roots. She stretched out her feelings, straining to understand what the language of trees, when she felt a curious emptiness floating nearby. She turned her attention away from the jungle and toward the emptiness. One such pocket of emptiness settled in a branch jutting toward her from an adjacent tree.
She climbed a vine down from the top and settled onto a branch. She crept forward on the branch, keeping her balance, and she brushed aside the vines and foliage. She peered through a thick curtain of vines and leaves to see what was in the empty spot in the Force. There, on the other side of the vines, glowered a pair of white-gray eyes set into a hard, gray face. The creature growled, revealing needle-like teeth. Startled by the sudden appearance, Kira lost her balance and tumbled from the branch, hurtling to the ground below.
Kira screamed as she tumbled, watching the ground rush up toward her. But before she hit the ground, a gray blur darted out of the bushes and caught her falling body. As she landed in the creature's wiry gray arms, she felt a painful pinch in her neck, and a sudden blackness overtook her.
Master Zevala's eyes flew open as warning surged through the Force. "Kira!" she called, and amidst her horror and fear, a small voice inside of her thought, How did you miss this?
Before she could reflect on the sudden shift in the Force, a second surge of danger drew her attention as multiple presences emerged around her. Taila Zevala activated her lightsaber and stepped between the creatures and the children. The creatures lurked beyond the edge of the clearing, obscured by shadows. Taila sensed keen focus, alien intelligence, and a calculated sense of purpose as they moved into a containment formation. As Taila settled into her defensive position, a volley of laser blasts erupted. Her lightsaber twirled into action, deflecting the blasts back into the jungle.
She felt a surge of pain and knew that one of her deflections met its mark. And as she sank deeper into the Force, allowing it to guide her actions, she felt a distant sense of fear and alarm from the temple. As the volleys of blaster bolts rebounded off of her ferocious parries and swipes, she spared a sliver of concentration, thinking, Luke! They have Kira!
Luke Skywalker's mind touched hers, and Taila sensed Luke's furious concentration. She had a glimpse of his green lightsaber whirling and young, frightened beings behind him.
I know, echoed the return thought.
"Get the Younglings to the caverns!" Luke Skywalker called out as blaster fire sparked and flashed from the jungle surrounding the temple. Luke glanced over his shoulder and watched Master Oppo Rancisis and Master Coleman Kcaj shepherd a dozen children into the wide entryway of the temple. Luke felt several presences join his side, including he Jedi Ferrer Melso, Padawan Yolly Bahnlo, and Padawan Ven Borvath. The quartet settled into defensive postures, their lightsabers buzzing with angry defiance. The incoming blaster bolts rebounded into the forest, sparking against tree trunks and burning through the vines.
Luke heard the whine of an activating speeder engine as a speeder shot off into the jungle. He felt Leia's presence sweep by, and her voice echoed in his mind, They have Kira.
Leia, it's too dangerous! Luke called back. Leia had already vanished into the jungle, racing away to find Kira.
A blast shook the upper rampart of the temple, from which a towering fireball blossomed into the sky. A quartet of TIE fighters shot past the temple. As their shrieking roar receded, Luke heard a heavier rumbling vibrate the ground. The Millennium Falcon rose from a clearing on the north end of the temple. Luke heard Han's voice bark from his wrist device, "Chewie and I are on it, kid."
Luke turned his focus back to the attackers, as the four Jedi blocked the blasts pelting them from the eaves of the jungle. Luke felt Yolly Bahnlo's focus flagging as fatigue began to settle in. He deepened his connection to the Force, stepping forward to deflect the bulk of the attack. As he settled into his defense, his mind drifted toward the presences in the forest. His mind registered the inorganic, unconscious nature of their assailants. His memory flashed to the corridor of an Imperial cruiser. He recognized their attackers: Dark Troopers.
Han Solo banked the Falcon hard to the left, and called out, "Yeah, Chewie I see it."
Chewbacca had roared a warning about the Arquitens-class cruiser looming on the horizon. A dozen TIE fighters screamed toward them, and the Falcon's quad guns barked, their heavy blasts vibrating his captain's chair. Han turned the Falcon toward the mist-shrouded Pinnacles, a maze of limestone pillars carpeted in lush vegetation. He banked the ship into a cloud, trusting that the sudden loss of visibility would not hinder the two Padawans in the gunnery bays.
A quick glance at the scope showed that three of the TIEs pursuing him had vanished. Han called out, "Nice shooting, Jacen!"
"Like mother, like son," called a woman's voice as the Falcon shot out of the cloud. A VCX-100 screamed past, its guns blazing as it fired on the TIEs pursuing the Falcon. Another half-dozen TIEs had vanished from his scope, and Han banked the Falcon down into the Pinnacles, to draw the rest off. He wove through the towering limestone formations as the remaining TIEs screeched by overhead, pelting away to get clear of the Ghost.
"Hera, what are we gonna do about that Arquitens?" Han called back.
"No idea!" Hera's voice gritted back through the speaker. Han leaned forward and looked left out of the cockpit. The Ghost screamed overhead, its guns blazing as it took out the last two TIEs.
"Han, they took Kira," Leia's voice called above the whine of a speeder bike through the Falcon's comms.
"What's your position?" Han called back.
"-23.402, heading dead southeast from the Temple," Leia affirmed.
"I'm on it," Han replied. "Hera, see if you can clear Luke's back. If he can get into his X-wing, it'll be a fair fight."
"On it," Hera called as Han pulled the Falcon up and out of the Pinnacles while the Ghost streaked past, screaming toward the other side of the temple.
Leia opened the throttle and attuned her senses to the Force. The energy field whispered suggestions as it guided her through the thick jungle vegetation. She strained her senses beyond the route-finding, seeking Kira's presence to reassure her that she was on her way. Try as she did, she could not get a sense of Kira's presence ahead, and a smoldering dread overtook her. Her focus switched to Ben, and she sensed Taila nearby, entrenched in a defensive posture. Leia felt the presence of the attackers, and their familiar essences struck a chord of recognition: Noghri.
Leia slowed the speeder and leapt from the saddle, landing beside Taila with her purple blade ignited. She sensed Ben and Zhey'la hiding behind her in the jungle, and a flash of warning spun her around. She charged across the clearing toward the trees as Ben's terror spiked. Leia was upon the creeping Noghri immediately, and she pushed her blade forward, sending it through the Noghri's forehead. A second Noghri darted toward Zhey'la, but Leia lifted him off of the ground with the Force, throwing him hard against the trunk of a tree. The Noghri collapsed to the ground, his spine broken, and Leia pulled the children toward her.
"Taila!" Leia called out. "Take the children and go!"
"Where?" Taila called back. Her lightsaber blade continued to dance and deflect.
"Get them to Luke! Take the speeder," Leia called.
Leia rushed forward to take Taila's place, and Taila fell back, shepherding the children toward the speeder. Leia deflected two blasts back into the eaves of the forest, and she felt two of the Noghri fall dead. Taila kicked on the speeder and shot off, and Leia felt Ben's and Zhey'la's presence receding along with her.
The Noghri beyond the edge of the clearing stopped firing, and Leia sensed them racing away to the east. Leia charged after them, drawing from the Force to enhance her speed. She raced forward, sensing the presences moving through the jungle ahead as if following a line of radiant breadcrumbs. She leapt through thickets of fern and gurgling streams before recognizing that the Noghri ahead of her had taken to the trees. Leia surged forward at a run, and she leapt, landing upon the branch of the tree above her. She darted forward, leaping from the tree and grabbing a vine to swing across a river. She launched herself across the river, soaring through the air with her lightsaber ignited. She came down on the ground in a roll, and when she came back up to her feet, she pursued the rearguard of the Noghri into the jungle. She reached out, and with a cat-like yowl, one of the Noghri soared backward, and Leia cut him in two as he flew past.
The remaining Noghri were now directly ahead of her, but still she had no sense of Kira. The lack of sensation spurred greater fear, but she banished the possibility of Kira's death to a distant corner of her mind. She surged into another clearing, and a volley of blaster fire greeted her. Leia rolled to the side, ducking under the fire. She came up with her blade growling, and she knocked the blasts back into her attackers. Two more Noghri fell to the ground, dead, and the rest raced away. Leia surged forward, and above the rush of wind in her ears and the thundering of her own breath, she heard the whine of an engine activating. With a burst of speed, Leia crashed through the eaves of the jungle, arriving at the rim of a valley overlooking the mist-shrouded Pinnacles.
The red orb of Yavin dominated the far horizon, casting an ethereal, bloody glow over the landscape. Ahead, the last of the Noghri raced toward an awaiting Lambda-class shuttle. The Noghri surrounding the shuttle opened fire, showering Leia with blaster bolts. Leia pulled up, settling into a defensive posture, and her lightsaber deflected the blasts into her assailants. A Noghri ran behind them, and Leia spotted Kira, unconscious, slung over the Noghri's shoulder. The blaster bolts remained too thick for her to intervene, and she watched as the Noghri carried Kira into the hold of the shuttle. Several of the other Noghri broke apart from their formation, racing into the shuttle under cover from the remaining Noghri. Leia watched as the shuttle's loading ramp closed, leaving the remaining Noghri behind.
As the shuttle lifted off of the ground, Leia cut through the Noghri with three deft movements. The shuttle shot forward, and Leia reached her hand out, reaching deep into the Force, her face locked in furious concentration. The shuttle's forward momentum stalled, and it strained against her grip. The sublight engine's blue light brightened. Leia felt the tension growing between the shuttle's power and her tenuous grip on the Force. Despite the sublight drive inching the ship forward, Leia felt she almost had it.
A sudden surge in the Force warned of danger, and she spun on the spot, releasing her grip. A blaster bolt arced across the clearing, and she swept her hand outward. The blaster bolt stopped in mid-air, crackling and sparking as the Force held it in place. Leia turned toward the wounded Noghri on the ground, and she stepped aside, allowing the blaster bolt to sizzle past her. She strode toward the Noghri, who looked up at her, his expression a mixture of terror and wonder. Leia scanned the Noghri's body and saw the blaster wound that had burned through his abdomen.
The Noghri gazed at her and whispered, "Mal'ary'ush."
What?!" Leia snapped, leaning down toward the creature. Through her own anger and pain, Leia recognized something sad, even lonely in the creature's eyes. But the emotion faded as its eyes went glassy. Leia felt the feeble spark inside the creature extinguish.
Leia whirled around to watch the shuttle streak toward the sky. "Han," Leia shouted into her wrist blaster. "There's a Lambda streaking east toward the Pinnacles. Kira's on it. See if you can disable it, but don't let it crash."
"On it," came Han's terse reply.
Leia heard the distant rumble of the Millennium Falcon approaching from the west. She watched it roar overhead, tearing off after the Lambda, which was now little more than a point of light in the late afternoon sky. As the Falcon closed in on the ship, Leia felt a sudden, sharp emergence of Kira's mind, flooded with fear and terror.
Leia!
We're coming, sweet child, Leia thought, seeking to soothe and reassure. But even as she thought it, Kira's presence became distant, before fading altogether as the Lambda shot into hyperspace. Han's vicious curse erupted from her commlink. Leia collapsed to her knees, the red glow of Yavin casting a bloody pall over the clearing.
As tears began to flow, Leia felt a deafening crack. She turned to watch a fireball blossoming from the apex of the Jedi Temple. An Arquitens-class cruiser loomed overhead, and another blast of green light slammed into the top of the temple.
Leia watched the Falcon wheel around and shoot toward the cruiser. Luke's X-wing and the Ghost streaked over the jungle canopy, screaming toward their attackers. But before any of the ships could reach their target, the cruiser shot into hyperspace, leaving the skies above Yavin-4 flooded with smoke and silence.
The Lambda hurtled through hyperspace toward an unknown destination. BD-1 cowered in a corner, his circuits shaking as he watched the mysterious gray beings binding Kira to a cot. One of the beings looked up, and BD-1 froze, darkening his eye socket to evade notice. The creature sniffed, but failing to notice anything out of the ordinary, he turned his attention back to the girl. BD-1 receded further into the shadows, watching Kira as she slept.