Wrecker leaned back against the inner wall of the proving grounds, tossing and catching a thermal in one hand. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk . . . On the eighteenth toss, he fumbled the grenade and only caught it just before it would have fallen to the floor. Hunter shot him a narrow-eyed look, which Wrecker ignored. Sure, it wasn't a great idea to play with explosives, but he was bored. They'd been in this room for nearly an hour, now, after returning from a long and pointless walk through the academy.

Still, when Hunter's look turned into a glower, Wrecker huffed and unwillingly put the grenade in his pack. With nothing else to keep himself occupied, he looked around the room, locating each of his companions.

Tech sat, datapad balanced on his bent knees as he studied some article or scan or whatever. Hunter was sitting close by, spinning his helmet idly between his hands and looking preoccupied now that Wrecker wasn't tossing grenades.

Crosshair, sitting between the other two, was leaning back against the wall. It was a little hard to tell with his helmet on, but Wrecker was pretty sure he was sleeping again. He sure fell asleep at the weirdest times . . .

Vythia was seated cross-legged in the shadows at the edge of the little circle of light cast by the lantern Wrecker had set on the floor. She had both hands resting on her knees, and her eyes were closed peacefully.

All the way across the room, near the partially open door, Quinlan stood, arms locked behind his back and head bowed. It looked like he was trying to hear something, but Wrecker couldn't figure out what. He'd been standing like that for nearly a quarter of an hour now.

Swinging his arms restlessly, Wrecker rocked back and forth on his heels a few times before crossing the floor to stand near the Jedi. Quinlan didn't say anything.

"Hey, Quinlan?" said Wrecker, a slow half-minute later.

The Jedi twitched, as though startled by his voice. "What?"

"What're we doing next?"

"I don't know."

Well, that wasn't very helpful. Wrecker went back to rocking on his heels as he considered what their next course of action might be. They'd gone through the entire east wing of the academy without discovering the shard. Quinlan hadn't sensed the artifact at all, and there hadn't been any stormbeasts to fight. But even without discovering a single thing of interest, the academy was so big that exploring the east wing had taken hours.

Wrecker didn't know what time it was when they'd finally returned to the proving grounds for a short rest, which actually didn't feel all that short. He checked the time – sixteen hundred hours. "It's getting pretty late," he muttered, staring at his chrono.

"Yeah?" Quinlan came suddenly to life and glanced at it as though to confirm. "We'd better get started before the sun goes down."
"What difference will that make?" Wrecker asked with a shrug. "It's pitch black in here either way."

The Jedi opened his mouth, hesitated, then closed it again. "Yeah, guess it doesn't make much of a difference."

Wrecker squinted suspiciously at him. Something was bothering him, all right, but he didn't seem likely to share it. "Well, okay . . . Want me to get the others?"

"Might as well. You do that, and I'll go hint nicely to Vythia that we should get moving again."

"What's she doing, anyway?" Wrecker asked, lowering his voice.

"Not sure, but it looks like she's – meditating." After peering out into the hall, Quinlan approached Vythia.

Wrecker joined his squad mates and nudged Hunter in the ribs with one boot. "Hey, wake up."

Hunter, who was perfectly wide awake, merely gave him a disgruntled look before getting to his feet and prodding Crosshair's arm. Crosshair woke with a jolt, glanced around, and flicked the side of Tech's helmet. Without so much as acknowledging him, Tech stood up, still reading.

Wrecker waited, but when Tech showed no signs of looking away from his datapad any time soon, he said, "Hey, what's so interesting?"

Tech ignored him.

Crosshair poked Tech again, but Tech merely stepped away a little, eyes moving back and forth as he continued reading at top speed.

Shaking his head, Hunter put on his helmet and went to join Quinlan and Vythia. The instant he was out of range, Wrecker grinned, crept up behind Tech, wrapped both arms around his shoulders, and hoisted him into the air.

Tech came to life with a startled yelp and twisted, unsuccessfully trying to break free as Wrecker stood there, completely unconcerned by Tech's growling. His youngest brother's attempt at sounding threatening was a little like listening to an angry tooka – at least, Wrecker thought so. He laughed.

"Put me down, Wrecker, or so help me –" Tech paused, then went limp.

Suddenly remembering that Tech was injured and worried that he'd squeezed him too hard, Wrecker loosened his grip. Immediately, Tech squirmed out of Wrecker's hold, dropped to his hands and knees, and landed a hard sideways kick just above Wrecker's knee.

Wrecker winced, but didn't take a step back.

"Nice try," Crosshair said sardonically.

"Yeah, it was," Wrecker agreed, noting Tech's disappointed glare. "Aw, don't worry about it, Tech. Even Hunter has trouble taking me down."

Tech got huffily to his feet and retrieved his datapad. "Yes, well; if you weren't built like a tank, things would be different."

Crosshair let out an amused sniff. "Or if you weren't built like a stick."

Turning off his datapad, Tech clipped it to his belt and gave Crosshair a narrow-eyed look. "You, on the other hand, are decidedly not built like a tank."

"No." Crosshair smirked. "But I'm still taller than you."

"By a few centimeters," Tech agreed with a smug look. "But I believe I outweigh you by at least three pounds."

Wrecker snorted at that, but Crosshair huffed. "Yeah. Impressive."

"I agree. It is at least as impressive as your few centimeters of height."

"I could take you down any time."

"My records indicate otherwise," Tech snipped. "Currently, I am in the lead with fifty-two out of ninety-seven spars. Though of course I am not averse to your attempting to even the record."

Crosshair straightened and stepped forward. Tech narrowed his eyes, and Wrecker sighed loudly as he noticed Vythia and Quinlan leaving the room. "Guys, come on. This isn't the time for a wrestling match."

The sniper was still eyeing Tech. "No time like the present. . ."

Hunter, who was halfway to the door, stopped abruptly and turned to face his squad mates, folding his arms. "Tech, Crosshair, knock it off."

When they looked up at him, thwarted, the sergeant gave an exasperated sigh. "Come on," he said, gesturing. "We're headed out."

Quinlan stood in the intersection of the two hallways, his eyes closed, and reached through the Force. Even when he released his mental shields partway, the tingle of evil surrounding him was strong, but not unbearable. When he once put them fully in place, he could barely feel the Dark Side at all. . . though there was something, directly to the north, that tingled in his mind.

The Jedi let out his breath, taking a moment to try and figure out how he was supposed to pretend that he was sensing the artifact with his psychometry, rather than with the Force. His best bet was most likely to pretend that it was taking him a while to 'sense' it, or whatever.

Too bad he hadn't taken a course on deception back at the Temple, not that the Jedi offered one. Quinlan almost snorted at the mental image of the looks Obi-Wan and Kit would wear if they ever heard him say that. Obi-Wan would be wearing that supercilious look of his as he peered down his nose, and Kit would smirk and say that deception was not the Jedi way. Hypocrites, the both of them.

I'll bet Kit would absolutely love to hear that my enemy on this mission is a beautiful purple-skinned Nautolan, he thought absently. He's always using that 'Nautolans are peaceful' line, which is totally untrue . . . Hey, I wonder if he and Vythia were from the same tribe . . .

When a shifting footstep close by caught his attention, he jerked back to the present, remembering that the others were still waiting for him to speak.

Opening his eyes, Quinlan rubbed his head as though in confusion. "Okay, there's something directly to the north."

Vythia nodded and moved quickly down the hallway he'd indicated. The others followed, only to come to an abrupt stop as they reached a dead end not twenty paces later.

"Maybe I was wrong about the direction," Quinlan said, though he knew perfectly well that he was not wrong.

Vythia shook her head, rested one finger against her lips, and considered for a long moment. "Psychometry does not lie. I doubt you were wrong."

"What, then?" Quinlan asked. "You think the shard is in the wall?"

"Maybe there's a passage behind it," Crosshair commented, glancing over his shoulder.

"No," Tech said, then quirked his mouth uncertainly. "At least, my scanners indicate that the wall is completely solid, though that does not necessarily mean they are accurate."

Vythia inclined her head, but before she could speak, Hunter turned sharply to face back the direction they'd come.

"Wait," he said. "Tech, scan for lifeforms."

"I assume by that you mean partial lifeforms," Tech said, typing quickly.

"Stormbeasts, yeah."

"Scanning . . . Hm. At least three are in our immediate vicinity. Let me extend the range."

"Well," said Quinlan. "I figured it had been too easy. What should we do – run for the proverbial hills, or stand and fight?"

Crosshair shot him a look. "Proverbial hills?"

"Well, yeah." Quinlan waved vaguely at their surroundings. "Do you see any geographical features in our immediate vicinity?"

The sniper scoffed, then ignored him in favor of checking his rifle and pistol.

"How many are there?" Vythia asked, one hand still resting on the wall.

"Seven," said Tech. "That is strange. When I checked sixteen minutes ago, there were no stormbeasts present."

Wrecker shrugged, unconcerned. "Maybe they live here during the night. Not for long, though! Ha!"

"As long as they don't approach us directly, we will continue our search," Vythia decided. "If Wrecker is correct, we will soon have more nearby, and a fight will draw too many others to us."

"One moment." Tech trotted back towards the intersection. "I'll see if I can get a better reading near the stairwell."

"As for the shard," Vythia went on thoughtfully, then paused to look up at the wall. "The shard will most likely be hidden inside a small vault. There must be a way to open it, but it may take me a few minutes to find it."

"I don't think we'll have time," Hunter said. "I can hear those things getting closer."

Tech returned, tapping calmly away at his screen. "There are already fifteen, including those in this level and the one directly above us, but my sensors cannot penetrate to the central hall. There may be many more in the east wing."

"Okay," said Hunter. "Vythia says there's probably a vault hidden in this wall. Get to work locating it. Vos?"

"I don't work for you," Quinlan reminded him automatically, flicking a dreadlock out of his eyes. "But that being said – yeah, we should locate it . . . but I can't actually pin it down any further."

He flicked his gaze toward Vythia, who was watching Tech, then back to Hunter, trying to let him know that he probably could pin it down, but not without giving away the fact that he was Force-sensitive.

Hunter inclined his head slightly, then shrugged. "Whatever. Just don't get in our way."

Quinlan narrowed his eyes at him for that, but the stormbeasts were getting close enough that there was no need to pretend rivalry for long.

"Vythia . . .?" Hunter took a step toward the area where the hallways intersected. "I think we're out of time."

"Hold them off," ordered Vythia, not looking away from the wall. Her finger rested on a barely visible mark, and she hummed. "Tech, try your scanner here."

Hunter drew his knife, and Quinlan followed suit.

Crosshair briefly relaxed the grip he had on his rifle. "You're going to fight those at close range?"

Hunter nodded. "They'll just get angry if we hit them but don't kill them. Take out as many as you can."

"Yeah, see," mused Quinlan, glancing dubiously at his knife. "I just remembered about those roars of theirs. . . Close range might not be such a great idea after all."

A heavy step sounded in the stairwell, and Hunter shrugged and rotated his knife to a reverse grip. "Best idea I've got. It's faster than with a rifle.

As if to counter that statement, Crosshair moved a couple steps forward, taking a shot before he'd come to a halt. A thud, followed by a low, hostile growl, sounded over Tech's sudden exclamation. "Ah – I found it! There is a metal panel here, coated over to look like stone."

"Excellent," said Vythia. "But I have not found a way to open it. Any glyphs that may have been here faded long ago."

"Just blow it up," Wrecker suggested, keeping his gaze on the dead stormbeast.

"That would destroy the artifact," Vythia replied.

Two stormbeasts snarled and growled, still outside the light cast by the lanterns Tech had set along the corridor.

"Hm." Crosshair peered through his scope. "Looks like they're fighting over who gets to eat the dead one."

Quinlan exchanged a revolted glance with Wrecker. "Ugh."

"Yeah . . ." Wrecker shuddered.

Crosshair moved his eye away from his rifle scope long enough to give them both a disbelieving look.

"Vythia." Hunter pulled a small tool from his belt. "Here – this plasma cutter should get through the panel."

He tossed it, and Vythia caught it deftly, activated it, and set to work, her dark eyes narrowed intently.

Tech moved away from the shower of sparks. "Are we going to wait for the stormbeasts to kill each other off?"

"No such luck," Quinlan told him, sensing a sudden shift in focus. "They just caught sight of a better meal."

"Ha!" yelled Wrecker, his voice echoing in the corridor. "They'll have a hard time getting through this armor!"

The stormbeasts lurched into the lantern light's range, heads lowered beneath the level of their shoulders as they moved towards the team. One of them hissed and clacked its heavy jaws together, eyes focused unwaveringly on Quinlan. The second one threw back its head and gave a shrill roar.

Clamping both hands over the sides of his helmet, Tech shouted, "It's calling the others!"

The scream cut off abruptly when Crosshair shot the stormbeast through the eye, but the damage had already been done. Every stormbeast now knew there was prey to be hunted. Despite not being able to sense them, Quinlan could sense the threat. The monsters were focused, and Quinlan, the commandos, and Vythia were in an underground, dead-end corridor. Fun.

"Vythia," he said, watching as Crosshair took out the other stormbeast. "I sure hope that cutter's working, because we are in trouble."

"Oh?" She glanced away from her work for half a second, just long enough to raise an eyebrow at him. "Why exactly do you say that?"

Kriff . . . Quinlan resisted the urge to smack himself in the forehead. He couldn't believe he'd just said that, and yet obviously he had.

"Quit whining," Hunter said in an exasperated tone. "Those things didn't get anywhere near us, and we've already handled three of 'em."

"Yeah, but there are a lot more than three above us," Quinlan retorted. "Even I can hear them."

Vythia, who had nearly finished outlining the square of metal, simply gave him an amused look and went back to cutting. Letting out an inaudible sigh of relief, Quinlan decided he should probably make more of an effort to keep his mouth shut in the future.

"I have it!" Vythia announced, hooking the cutter onto her belt. She drew her knife and inserted the tip into the glowing outline, then jerked outward. The metal square fell free with a clang, revealing the vault and its contents.

Quinlan studied the long, curved piece of black metal for a moment, but felt nothing particularly malevolent about it. "That's the shard?" he said. "It doesn't look like anything extraordinary, but . . ."

Taking the shard carefully in both hands, Vythia removed it from the vault.

A shockwave of Force energy battered at Quinlan's shields, and he reeled mentally, struggling to keep his composure.

Fortunately for him, Wrecker was already moving towards Vythia. "Huh. That's a piece of a double-bladed axe?"

"Yes."

"Okay . . ." Wrecker frowned down at it in obvious confusion. "What was so special about it, again?"

"It was the first Sith'ari's most famous weapon," she replied, stroking two fingers along the length. "He imbued it with a good deal of Force energy. This piece was all that remained after his defeat. Even apart from its power, it has historical value to many."

Quinlan reached carefully behind himself to rest a hand against the wall. He'd reinforced his shields, but it was taking a lot of his concentration to do so, and the initial attack of energy had left him feeling sick and dizzy. Careful to keep his expression neutral, he returned his attention to the artifact. "Sith'ari?" he asked, in an effort to keep her talking and hopefully distracted from his reaction.

"Yes." Vythia slipped the twenty-centimeter shard diagonally into the dark satchel she carried. "Come, let us return to the surface. We have what we came for."

Hunter shot Quinlan a questioning look, and the Jedi waved for him to move on ahead.

"What precisely is a Sith'ari?" Tech asked. "Based on context, I assume it is a title, perhaps of kingship."

"Yes. It means overlord. Adas was the first of all the Sith to hold the title," she replied, stepping over the two dead stormbeasts. "The original race of Sith, all naturally users of the Dark Side, had bright red skin. Adas, however, was the color of charcoal at birth. Some say that this was because the Dark Side was so strong in him."

As they hurried up the stairs, Wrecker said doubtfully, "That can happen?"

"Oh, yes." She shot a look at him over one shoulder, her eyes glimmering in the lantern light. "It strengthens one, but also takes a physical toll, though some are affected more than others. Adas, for example, lived for nearly three hundred years – and he would have lived longer, had he not been killed in battle at the height of his reign."

Quinlan swallowed against the creeping sensation in his stomach, which had only increased since the shard's removal from the vault. He'd already been looking forward to returning to the shuttles, but now he was even more eager. The sooner Vythia locked the shard away in her Force-neutralizing container, the better.

Vythia paused at the top of the stairs, glancing to both sides. The remaining four stormbeasts on the level they'd just left had never attacked.

Good, Quinlan thought. Now there are only eight between us and the doorway – if more haven't entered the west wing by now.

Of course, judging by the way Tech was frowning at his datapad, there were either a lot more, or he wasn't getting very clear readings.

Hunter glanced up at the ceiling suddenly. At the same time, Crosshair swung around the corner, rifle lifted, and signaled that the way forward was clear. The sergeant, who was still looking up at the ceiling, raised a hand, cautioning the others to wait.

Wrecker, Quinlan, and Tech stopped to watch Hunter, who was turning his head from one side to the other as though searching for something, but the other two didn't notice – they had already moved forward. Quinlan reached out with the Force in an attempt to sense any nearby threats, but could feel nothing except the presence of the shard. Then he glanced after Crosshair and Vythia. Oh no.

A hulking shadow shifted in an alcove only a few feet away from Vythia, and Quinlan opened his mouth to warn her, but Hunter was already rushing forward, his focus on something farther down the hall.

"Hunter!" yelled Quinlan. "Wait!"

Crosshair twisted sharply to one side, too late. The stormbeast jumped as he fired, and the shot only scorched the top of its head as it lashed out at the commando.

Vythia and the sniper dodged to either side just as Hunter reached them and the stormbeast screamed.

Quinlan staggered in place, completely disoriented as the roar destroyed his sense of balance. He was vaguely aware of Tech firing and Wrecker shouting.

Clenching his knife in one hand, Quinlan clutched at the wall, his mind telling him that he was standing upright even though it felt like everything was slanting downward to the left. Vythia and Hunter were on the ground to either side of the stormbeast, which had raised both front limbs to protect its face from Tech's fire. Crosshair was on his knees near the wall, balancing with one hand as he reached for his pistol.

Quinlan lifted his knife for a throw.

"Incoming!" roared Wrecker, rushing past.

Tech lowered his pistol Wrecker threw his full weight against the stormbeast. It staggered back, nearly stepping on Crosshair as Wrecker jammed his huge vibroblade up beneath its sternum. The creature let out another roar, causing everyone to flinch, but the sound cut off almost immediately as it died. Wrecker shoved the stormbeast backwards and let it fall.

"Behind you!" gasped Hunter.

Wrecker and Crosshair both reacted, Wrecker turning to check the hall near Quinlan while Crosshair checked in the opposite direction. The sniper instantly rolled onto his back, bracing himself with one elbow as he fired his pistol.

Quinlan blinked hard to clear his blurred vision and succeeded just in time to see the charging stormbeast collapse, face peppered with blaster marks. The ensuing silence rang heavily in his ears as everyone froze, waiting to see if there were any further monsters waiting to attack.

When nothing happened, Quinlan and Tech released the wall and stumbled forward to join the others. They walked into each other twice in the five meters it took them to reach the rest of the team, but somehow managed to stay more or less upright.

"Is everyone okay?" Quinlan asked. "Or at least alive? Because, ow . . ."

"Shut up, Vos," Crosshair said, finally managing to kneel upright.

"Yeah, Vos," groaned Hunter. "Shut up."

Wrecker hoisted the sergeant to his feet and leaned him against a convenient angle in the wall, then picked up the lantern and held it over his head, illuminating the area.

That single attack had turned them into a sorry-looking group. Vythia's face was drawn, and she leaned dizzily on Tech's arm as he helped her up. Crosshair, who had just removed his helmet, was a peculiar shade of green, and Hunter wasn't looking much better. Wrecker and Tech seemed okay, if a little unsteady.

Drawing a shuddering breath, Vythia straightened and stepped carefully away from Tech. "Well," she said wryly. "That was – different."

Quinlan disjointedly thought that understatement was probably just a Nautolan thing.

"What now?" Wrecker asked. "Want me and Tech to go ahead of you guys and clear the way?"

"No," Hunter said.

Vythia looked from one side of the corridor to the other. "We are not too far from the proving grounds," she said after a moment. "We could regroup there, even barricade ourselves in if necessary."

Quinlan nodded, grateful when the corridor stayed where it was supposed to despite his movement. "Good idea. Want me to lead the way?"

"I will go first," she said, removing the whip handle from her belt. "Tech – can you limit your scans to our immediate surroundings?"

"Yes, of course. I should have thought of that before," he berated himself as he moved over to join her. "Focusing all my sensors in front of us will likely enable us to extend the range of my readings despite the interference from the walls."

Wrecker fell back to rearguard position, leaving Quinlan to join Hunter and Crosshair in the center of the group. He took the brief reprieve to increase his mental defenses – if he lowered his shields entirely, he might be able to sense further attacks, but there was no guarantee of that. Most likely, all he'd sense would be the shard, and if that happened, he'd be even less useful in a fight.

Not that the Jedi had been all that useful so far. He'd had occasion to realize, several times in the past, that he was highly dependent on the Force for information concerning his surroundings, including the people around him. The problem was, he only truly realized it when he was unable to reach the Force. Yeah – what's that saying? he thought, slipping his knife into a reverse-grip. You never know what you have until it's gone?

Thanks to Tech's constant updates and Vythia's excellent sense of direction, the team got out of the west wing without any further attacks. Several times, when Tech's sensors picked up stormbeasts in the halls they'd taken on the way down, Vythia easily found a way through the adjoining corridors.

Hunter entered the central hall with a cautious look around and stood still, listening. His sense of balance was still a little off, but fortunately the intense nausea had faded within two minutes of the attack.

The others also seemed back to normal – in fact, judging by the snarky whispered remarks behind him, Crosshair and Quinlan were once again involved in some kind of argument. Hunter decided it would be best to increase their speed.

Glancing over one shoulder at the others, he said, "This area's clear. Want to make a run for it?"

"We may as well," Vythia answered. "Tech says there are five stormbeasts between us and the outer door, and they are headed inside."

"Okay," said Hunter. "We'll barricade ourselves in the proving grounds and wait for them to get past us."

He signaled the others, then led the dash across the central hall and down the narrow corridor that led to the proving grounds.

Wrecker yanked the door open and Hunter held it while the others hurried inside, one after the other. The moment Wrecker was in, the sergeant pulled the door to, letting it click shut before he leaned against it.

"Take five," he instructed. "As soon as those things are out of hearing range, we'll be headed back to the shuttles."

Vythia sat next to Tech, and the other three propped themselves against the walls while the sergeant stayed leaning back against the door.

"Hey." Wrecker elbowed Crosshair. "It took us a while to get here the first time. How far d'you think it is to the outer door?"

"Two hundred meters, maybe." Crosshair took off his helmet and glanced around the dim room.

"Yes," said Tech. "It only took us so long when we first came down because we kept stopping to check the outer rooms."

The Jedi nodded. "One dash from here to the exit, and then one more to the shuttles, and we can leave this place behind."

"Can't wait," muttered Crosshair.

"Well, you will not have to wait long," Tech said. "The stormbeasts are headed into the central hall now."

"Good." Hunter cast a wary look at the door behind himself. "Tech . . . any idea if those things know how to open doors?"

Quinlan groaned. "Way to ruin the mood, Hunter."

"Ah – speaking of ruining the mood . . ." Tech looked up. "There are five headed directly towards us."

Wrecker sighed noisily. "I'm so tired of these things! Can't I just blow 'em up?"

Everyone turned to Vythia, who blinked once, slowly. "The noise will attract the others."

"Yeah," said Quinlan. "But overall the stormbeasts are pretty slow-moving. Wrecker could sling a few grenades at 'em, and we could be racing down the hall before they'd even exploded."

"There is only one problem with that idea," Tech said, lifting a cautionary finger. "There are still more stormbeasts entering the academy."

"Why are they all headed inside, anyway?" the Jedi grumbled, slouching back.

Hunter straightened. He could hardly answer with Vythia present, but, right before the stormbeast attack, he had felt quick flickers of electricity that made him think of Kamino. A massive thunderstorm was building overhead, and the stormbeasts were probably taking shelter from it. And if there are a lot of them headed to the academy, there might still be a lot outside – maybe even blocking our way to the shuttles. Great.

He looked up to see that Crosshair was watching him. Of course he had noticed that Hunter had been about to say something. Hunter tilted his head, a silent gesture that it wasn't anything immediately important. Tech's sensors would probably pick up the creatures outside before the team even reached the doors.

The stormbeasts in the hall were near the door to the proving grounds now – Hunter could feel the vibrations from their heavy forms, even though he couldn't hear them. He gestured to Wrecker. "Help me hold this shut, just in case. The rest of you, keep quiet."

The others got to their feet as Wrecker and Hunter grabbed the metal ring that served as a handle. It might have been easier to barricade a door that swung inward, but they were out of luck there.

Something scrabbled against the door, paused, and scraped up the length of the stone.

"They are not walking past," Tech whispered unnecessarily.

Quinlan was staring at the floor, which was covered in ashy dust that had been disturbed only by their own footprints. "They haven't come in here for months," he said. "Why now?"

"Because they want to eat us," said Wrecker. "Obviously."

"I believe Wrecker is correct," Tech observed. "They certainly tracked us down quickly."

"Of course," said Vythia, looking completely unconcerned. "After all, they were predators even before the Sith increased their natural skills and aggression."

"Right," said Hunter, who wasn't much interested in the stormbeasts' history at the moment. "So how do we get past them?"

Without warning, the handle twisted in his hands. Hunter clung to it, and a strong tug against the door pulled him a step forward before Wrecker threw his weight back, slamming the door again.

"I've got an idea," said Quinlan, gesturing with his knife. "Open the door. I'll draw them inside while you guys get out. We'll shut the door on them."

"That won't hold them," said Crosshair, eyeing the slightly shuddering door.

"Hey," said the Jedi. "They're smart, but they're still animals. They know they have to pull to open this door, but –"

"Yes!" interrupted Tech, catching on. "It might take them some time to realize that to leave the room, they have to push the door."

"And we want to avoid fighting them at close range," agreed Hunter, hands already aching from the strain of holding the door shut. "Okay. Everyone, get to my left."

"Except for me," said Quinlan, taking a few steps backward. Untwisting one of the collapsible lanterns, the Jedi tossed it to the side.

"Wrecker, get ready," ordered Hunter. "The instant we release this door, we're moving left, got it?"

"Got it."

As soon as Hunter felt the stormbeast stop tugging, he released the handle and flattened himself against the wall beside Vythia, who had her whip out, but hadn't yet activated it. Wrecker stood next to Hunter, and they waited, holding their breaths.

The door swung open abruptly. Quinlan stood perfectly still, arms folded, knife held between the fingers of his right hand. He was only three meters inside the room, but the stormbeasts didn't enter. Instead, they crowded in the doorway, eerily unmoved by his presence, just – watching.

After a few seconds, the Jedi said, "Cover your ears."

The instant everyone obeyed, Quinlan flung his knife at the foremost stormbeast. The injured monster let out an angry croaking call and lurched into the room, forearms raised above its head, which it ducked below the level of its shoulders as it moved.

Hunter held his breath, watching the Jedi as he backed away from the oncoming monster. If one of the stormbeasts decided to scream while they were still close to the door, Quinlan would be helpless – in fact, they all would be. But he moved steadily backwards, eyes calm as he held out both hands, as though by doing so he could command the creatures' attention.

The last stormbeast entered the room. All five of the creatures slowly spread out, fully focused on Quinlan, who was halfway across the room now. He was at the very edge of the lantern's light when he said, "Uh – guys? Any day now!"

Hunter jerked his head toward the door, and Vythia obeyed, followed by Crosshair, Tech, and Wrecker. Hunter left last, positioned himself beside the open door, and gripped the metal ring with both hands.

One of the creatures was still close to the door, only six meters away, and Hunter wondered if the Jedi would have time to get out before it intercepted him. But then the stormbeast nearest to Quinlan stopped and tilted its head back.

The instant Hunter realized it was about to scream, he did the only thing he could think of. "Hey!"

As one, the stormbeasts swiveled to face the door.

"Well." Crosshair slipped up beside him. "Now you've done it."

Hunter watched as Quinlan sprinted around the distracted creatures, nearly within arms' reach of them. "Crosshair, would you just –"

His sniper promptly put a laser through the eye of the closest stormbeast.

An instant later, Quinlan threw himself through the doorway, hitting the ground hard as Wrecker and Hunter slammed the door shut. Claws scraped against the stone, and the door shuddered.

Vythia pulled Quinlan to his feet. "It appears that you were right," she said. "Excellent job keeping them distracted."

"Those things are huge," the Jedi observed randomly, his face a bit pale in the light from Tech's lantern. "Can we leave now?"

"There are more stormbeasts in the central hall," Tech said. "We should put away our lights."

"Do that," said Vythia. "I'll lead the way. Stay close."

She waited until the lanterns had been put away, then sprinted down the hall at a surprising speed. The others followed in silence, focused only on keeping up with the Nautolan as she swerved into the central hall.

From behind them came muted, croaking screams as the trapped creatures warned the others. An answering roar sounded from too close by, and Hunter chanced a look over one shoulder. "They've seen us. Tech – the ship –"

Tech's eyes were flitting continuously from his datapad to where he was putting his feet. "I'm readying it now, but starting the engines risks drawing the attention of any creatures still outside."

"Right." Hunter armed a grenade as he caught sight of the open academy doors. "Start the ship on my signal. Wrecker, get ready."

"I'm always ready!" yelled his older teammate gleefully, holding up a thermal in each hand.

Yeah, thought Hunter with an answering sense of amusement. Shouldn't have even bothered asking . . .

I did some research on real sonic weaponry, so this chapter should be pretty accurate. But hey, it's Star Wars. One of the great things about writing in it is being able to take real things, change them a bit, and still be able to make it sound plausible.

Also, the original race of Sith really was bright red. I assume that's why so many of the later Sith tattooed themselves black and red. . . Kind of a tribute, perhaps?