* Chapter 2 *

The life-sized hologram of Don Dain materialized across from Ahsoka Tano, joining the group of individuals surrounding the holotable in the Jedi Temple Tactical Operations Center. "Chancellor," said Ahsoka, "thank you for joining us. Did you have any trouble reaching the bunker?"

"No," Dain replied, "no trouble at all."

Ahsoka gestured to the other people present—either physically or virtually—and introduced them. "You of course know Masters Ramis and Hamner." Octa Ramis and Kenth Hamner bowed their heads respectfully. Ahsoka next indicated the hologram of a tan-skinned, muscular woman with short cropped black hair. She wore a heavy, high-visibility jumpsuit and carried a large helmet under her arm attached to a rebreather pack on her chest. "This is Omaya Jetzu, District Chief of Coruscant Fire and Rescue. She's overseeing the operation at Obsidian Towers."

Omaya Jetzu inclined her head in acknowledgement. "I don't have long. I'm just here to brief you on the situation before I get back to the rescue operation."

Dain nodded. "Of course."

Continuing the introductions, Ahsoka motioned towards a Lutrillian male with a broad, wrinkled face and wide-set eyes wearing a blue uniform. "This is Captain Gollayawo of the police force. And Colonel Diimas Tol-Terro of the Coruscant Defense Force." She indicated a tall human male with a fair complexion.

"Where is Commander Dain?" asked the chancellor. "As leader of the defense force, he should be present for this."

Everyone exchanged wary glances, unsure of who should be the one to break the news. Colonel Tol-Terro took the initiative and said, "Your Excellency, I am acting in your son's stead in his absence. He—"

"He's aboard the Reliant," interrupted Dain, "observing Admiral Mo'Ari. Have you tried contacting them?"

"Sir…" Tol-Terro shifted uneasily. "The Reliant has been attacked. We've lost all communication with it."

Dain's shock was evident in his wide eyes and gaping jaw. "Attacked? By the Sith? Is their fleet above us right now?"

Ahsoka decided to take over the conversation. "It wasn't the Sith fleet. We don't know what happened yet. Every ship in the Coruscant Defense Fleet just unexpectedly lowered their shields and opened fire on each other."

"The entire fleet?" Dain repeated incredulously. "Are you telling me that we've lost the entire fleet?"

"I'm afraid so," answered Kenth. "So far, we've counted forty-two ships destroyed, not including small civilian craft. It will take a while for us to determine which ships were caught in the crossfire."

"Civilians? You mean civilians have been killed by our own ships? How did this happen? Did the Sith hijack our ships?"

"We don't know. Truthfully, we don't know anything at this point. But there will be a thorough investigation; I can promise you that."

Dain looked down, deep in contemplation. When he did not speak, Captain Gollayawo said, "I'm afraid there's more bad news, Chancellor. There are Sith on the planet, going on a killing spree."

At this, Dain's head snapped up to stare at the police officer. "They're here, on Coruscant? Where are they? How many are there?"

"We don't know how many there are, but there have been reported sightings in twenty-two locations throughout the city. They seem to be focused on the most heavily populated areas."

"Like the Senate?"

Gollayawo shook his head ruefully. "They don't appear to be attacking government or military targets; they're attacking civilians—on the streets, in apartments, shopping centers, entertainment venues, even schools."

Ahsoka winced at the mention of the schools. The Sith were killing innocent children for no other reason than to sow terror. Aside from the destruction of some Star Destroyers, there was no tactical advantage to these attacks.

"We're keeping a record of the locations of these attacks," said Octa. Indeed, the holotable had been configured to show a large holographic map of Coruscant that covered every reported location of a Sith attack, each highlighted by a red rot. The location of Obsidian Towers was still marked by a dense fog of black smoke. "We're linking our holotable to yours now." She typed in a series of commands which allowed the current holomap display to be shown on the holotable in Dain's bunker. A moment later, the chancellor looked down at the table, studying it intently.

"Every police officer on the planet has been alerted and called to active duty," continued Gollayawo. "We've also activated every probe droid we have to patrol the streets. If any more Sith are sighted, they will alert us immediately. But we're not trained to fight these Sith. Which is why we need the Jedi and the military to reinforce us."

"We've already begun sending Jedi to places where Sith have been spotted," said Ahsoka. "We've also sent Jedi to help with the rescue operation at Obsidian Towers. However, we're stretched pretty thin; most of the Jedi are off world fighting the Sith. If the situation gets much worse, there won't be enough of us to respond to all of these attacks."

"The same goes for the military," Tol-Terro put in. "All available garrisons have been dispatched, and we lost most of our reinforcements when the fleet was destroyed."

"We could call for reinforcements from other planets," suggested Kenth, "but it would take them a while to get here. I'm afraid we're just going to have to make do with what we have."

Everyone nodded somberly in agreement. For a moment, Ahsoka wished that the Alliance had been more prepared for this crisis. They should have come up with a plan for reinforcements to be kept in reserve close enough to Coruscant to render timely aid. But then she had to remind herself, This is not the Alliance's fault. There are hundreds of plans in place for various emergencies, but no one could have planned for something like this. No one could have even expected this.

With that matter settled, Chief Jetzu began to give her report. "We've called in fire crews from—"

"Are there any survivors?" Everyone turned to regard Dain, who repeated, "Are there any survivors from the fleet?"

"Right now, there are eighteen ships that we believe still have survivors aboard," answered Kenth, "including eleven Star Destroyers."

"What about the Reliant?"

"Yes, that's one of the ships that may still have survivors."

Dain exhaled in relief. "Do you have a plan for rescuing them?"

Kenth was about to respond when Ahsoka cut in, "Not yet. We'll discuss our options in a moment, but I think we should hear Chief Jetzu's report first so that she can get back to work." Dain was visibly irked by this distraction. Ahsoka did not blame him; he was clearly worried about his son. However, he was focusing entirely on Mek Dain at the expense of millions of other people whose lives were at risk. She feared that it would hinder the Alliance's ability to handle the situation.

When the chancellor remained silent, Chief Jetzu picked up where she had left off. "We've called in crews from all nearby districts, but I don't think it'll be enough. We have about forty blocks on fire, and we've only begun to cover five of them. And we've got maybe tens of thousands of people to save. We just don't have the time or resources to save them all."

"Do you need us to send more fire crews?" asked Ahsoka.

Jetzu shook her head. "You could, but I doubt they'll do us any good. Like I said, we've already called in everyone who could get here in time. If we called in anyone else, it would be to dig through rubble. Besides, all the fire retardant on Coruscant isn't going to put this out."

The three Jedi Masters shared a disconcerting look. To Ahsoka's knowledge, Coruscant had not had a fire this large since the wars with the ancient Sith, so the city's infrastructure simply was not designed to handle it. Despite their best efforts, thousands of people were going to die, and that thought was too painful for Ahsoka to accept. "How long until the fire burns itself out?"

Jetzu shrugged. "I have no idea what the hell caused it, but this fire burns hotter and longer than anything I've ever seen. Besides, it depends on the size of the building. At the rate we're seeing, most of the buildings are going to burn down completely in an hour, maybe more. The smaller ones are going to go in half that time. But even after they collapse, the fire's still going to burn for at least an hour."

"What about Obsidian Towers?" asked Octa. "What's going to happen to the hotel?"

The fire chief let out a long exhale. "That is the thing I'm worried about the most. Our probe droids are scanning massive structural damage on all floors. Those towers are going to collapse within the hour, and, depending on how they fall, they could take a whole bunch of other buildings with them."

"Is there anything you can do to stop it?"

"What, have you seen the size of these things?" she asked in consternation. "No way in Hell. Right now, they're so fragile that they'll collapse instantly if we even touch them the wrong way. That hotel is a lost cause. We're focusing our efforts on the buildings we can actually save."

Everyone was shocked to hear her say this. The thought of allowing three towers to burn down was appalling, even more so given their status as a popular tourist destination. "What about the people inside?" asked Gollayawo. "Aren't you going to try and save them?"

Jetzu hesitated for a long moment before answering, "We're prioritizing based on how many lives can be saved. Right now, our best chance is to focus on people closer to the ground."

"So you're just going to leave everyone else to die?!" Tol-Terro exclaimed.

"You think I like this?" Jetzu snapped back. "This is so much bigger than anything I've ever had to deal with in my two decades on the force! We don't have the time or resources to save everyone, so I'm just trying to figure out how to save the maximum number of lives! And, yes, that means making some tough decisions! If you think you can do better, then, by all means, I'd like to see you try!"

Ahsoka held up both hands in a calming gesture. "Everyone, take a deep breath. We're all still trying to figure this out, and we're all doing the best we can. Chief, we trust your judgment. We know you'll save as many people as possible."

This seemed to mollify everyone, at least temporarily. Tol-Terro and Jetzu still looked angry, but their ire was no longer directed at each other. That's good, Ahsoka thought, this will be much easier if we're all cooperating with each other. She looked around the table to gauge everyone else's emotions. There was, understandably, anger and uncertainty, but everyone was calm and collected.

Except for Dain. Ahsoka could sense fear roiling within him, more so than anyone else. This left her deeply concerned about his ability to make wise decisions at such a crucial time. His gaze was fixed on the holographic debris field hovering a meter above the table. It depicted the wreckage of the ships in orbit, ranging from small bits of detritus to large, recognizable chunks of Star Destroyers, including the Reliant. One did not have to be a Jedi to know that Dain was thinking about his son's possible fate.

Hoping that addressing the issue would renew the chancellor's focus, Ahsoka said, "I think now we need to come up with a rescue plan for the ships in orbit." This succeeded in drawing Dain's attention away from the hologram, and he joined the others in looking expectantly at Ahsoka. She continued, "Since we've lost the entire fleet, we don't have any ships available for the evacuation. So we need to come up with other options, and quickly; those ships won't last forever."

Kenth turned to Chief Jetzu, "Does Fire and Rescue have any space-worthy ships that we can use?"

"Yes," Jetzu replied, "But we've called them all to Obsidian Towers."

The Jedi Master nodded slowly and chose his words carefully so as not to offend her. "Alright, but perhaps they'd be put to better use in space than on the ground. Couldn't we redirect some of them?"

Jetzu considered this for a moment, weighing the benefit to the people on the ground versus in space. Finally, she conceded, "Well, we normally use those ships for evacuating people from the upper floors of skyscrapers. But, since it's not safe to do that, I guess we don't really need them. But I can tell you right now, we don't have enough ships to save everyone in space."

"But you can get everyone off the Reliant, right?" asked Dain.

"Yes, Your Excellency. We have enough ships for that."

"Hang on," interjected Kenth. "There are at least seven civilian transports that likely have survivors on them. If we can't save everyone, I think we should be focusing on the civilians first."

Everyone nodded in agreements, except for Dain. "But we can't let all our military personnel die," he protested. "If there's another attack, we'll need them."

"They're not going to die yet," Kenth assured him. "Those Star Destroyers should be able to hold together and maintain sufficient life support for a while. Once we've finished saving the civilians, we will send the rescue ships back for them. They'll just have to wait a little longer."

"But anything could happen before then! There could be a system failure, or a cascading hull breach, or debris impact, or—"

"Chancellor," Ahsoka interrupted gently. She fixed him with a sympathetic look. "Your concerns are valid. But we need to keep in mind that we—all of us—exist to protect the people of the Alliance. All of the military crews on those ships swore the same oath. They knew when they enlisted that they might die in the line of duty. But none of the civilians up there accepted the same risk. It's our duty to protect them, first and foremost." On a more personal note, she added, "I understand that you're worried about your son. And I promise that we will rescue him as soon as we can. But he took the same oath the rest of the military did. The civilians have to come first."

For a long moment, Dain did not respond. He simply stared at Ahsoka as though he wanted to argue further, and she was afraid that he might decide to circumvent everyone else and order all rescue ships to get his son off of the Reliant. If that happened, Ahsoka wondered what she might do. She could not allow him to condemn innocent lives to death to save his own son. But, if he did so, she would have to declare him emotionally compromised and relieve him of command. She would, essentially, be attempting the same thing the Jedi Council had attempted to do with Chancellor Palpatine all those years ago—and it had led the entire Jedi Order to ruin.

She was therefore relieved when Dain reluctantly nodded his head.

"The chancellor has a point, though," said Tol-Terro. "If the Sith attack again with a full military force, we don't have the ships to stop them. We need to call in reinforcements."

There was no arguing with that point. Over the course of the three attacks, the Sith had systematically pulled apart the Alliance's defense. The fleet was gone, along with the majority of their troops. The Jedi and troops who remained were spread across Coruscant chasing homicidal Sith warriors and rendering aid at Obsidian Towers. This was the ideal time for the Sith to launch a full-scale assault on the capital planet of the Alliance.

"Where do we get these reinforcements?" asked Ahsoka. "Every other ship we have is defending other worlds or fighting the Sith. And with all our recent losses, we're stretched so thin that pulling even one of those ships out could mean defeat."

Kenth sighed and said, "I'm afraid we may not have any choice. We can't afford to lose Coruscant; the reverberations would spread to every other front, and the war would almost certainly be lost. I think we may have to sacrifice a few battles in order to stay afloat in this war. But instead of pulling out one or two ships from each fleet, we could minimize our losses by ordering a full retreat from only a few nearby worlds."

"Retreat?" Dain repeated incredulously. "You want to give entire worlds to the Sith? We can't do that! We cannot allow them to gain an even greater foothold in this war than they already have!"

"I'm afraid Master Hamner's right," said Octa. "We can't risk losing Coruscant, but we can afford to lose other planets—at least temporarily. Once we replenish our fleet, we can try to retake the worlds we lost."

"What about the people on those planets?" asked Ahsoka. "If we let the Sith take control of their worlds, their suffering will be on our hands."

"If the Sith take Coruscant," argued Tol-Terro, "even more people will suffer. There are over a trillion people on this planet, as opposed to a few billion on others. We just said a few minutes ago that our priority should be saving as many lives as possible. By that reasoning, saving Coruscant should be our priority."

"Well, I think we've done too much deciding who lives and who dies today already," Ahsoka stated curtly. "I'm not going to sign off on anything until we've explored options that don't involve sacrificing people. We should contact our allies and ask them to send ships. Not only to protect Coruscant, but also to aid in the rescue operation and cleanup. Even after these attacks end, people will still need medicine and shelter and help getting back on their feet. We'll need all the help we can get with that."

"And what if they decide not to come?" asked Tol-Terro. "After what's happened here today, they may decide to double down on protecting their own planets, helping their own people. What do we do if we're on our own?"

"Then we will come together as one people. We'll get through this together, whether we have help or not." Although she lent strength and certainty to her words, Ahsoka found them hard to believe. She had spent more than enough time observing the politics of the galaxy and the interactions between various groups to know that there was a very good chance that people would choose not to help. If only more people were selfless instead of selfish, she thought wistfully. If her fears came to pass, the Jedi and the Alliance would be hard-pressed to render humanitarian aid to the hundreds of thousands of survivors—and counting—who had been affected by this tragedy.

"But if it does come down to recalling ships from other worlds…" Kenth began.

"Then we will not pull ships from worlds that are being actively affected by the Sith. We'll scrounge together a new fleet made of ships from worlds that are not likely to be attacked. And we're not going to leave those worlds unprotected; enough ships will be left behind to alert us of any attack and to hold the line until help can arrive."

The others gathered around the holotable exchanged wary glances, not entirely confident in Ahsoka's plan. In theory, it would minimize casualties on other worlds. In reality, it would leave them more vulnerable to attack, with no guarantee that help would arrive in a timely manner—if at all. But, out of respect for the former Grand Master and co-founder of the New Jedi Order, no one raised any objections.

Ahsoka turned to address some of the Jedi working at the various control consoles and ordered, "Send out a general distress call on all frequencies. Kindly ask any ships near Coruscant to come to our aid immediately, with an emphasis on ships with defensive and rescue capabilities. Send messages to all Alliance allies in the region, including the Imperial Remnant, the Hapes Consortium, and anyone else who could send aid. And prepare a list of all fleet postings within a two-hour travel radius that details the number of ships in each location." The Jedi uttered various affirmations and hurried to follow her orders.

An alarm emanated from the holotable, drawing everyone's attention back to the hologram. A red dot had appeared just below the representation of the debris field, indicating a piece of wreckage that had entered Coruscant's atmosphere and was falling to the surface. After a few seconds, however, the detritus burned up on re-entry, the dot disappeared, and the alarm went silent.

No one was relieved. Kenth voiced everyone's concern aloud. "It won't be long before more debris starts raining down on the city, and not all of it will burn up before it reaches the surface."

Ahsoka looked at the holograms of the disabled Star Destroyers being slowly pulled in by the planet's gravitational field. She imagined the damage such large ships could do to the most densely populated city in the galaxy, and a chill went down her spine. "We can't let those ships crash," she said. "We have to do something about that debris."

"That's a hell of a lot of debris," commented Chief Jetzu. "How do we get rid of it?"

"If we still had ships," Tol-Terro mused, "we could use tractor beams to pull it away from the planet. But I don't think we can wait for reinforcements."

"And those Star Destroyers are too big to be towed," Kenth pointed out. "It would take a lot of ships to move them."

"If we can't stop those ships from crashing," said Gollayawo, "then we need to get people away from the crash sites. Is there any way to know where the debris will impact the surface?"

"Our analysts should be able to calculate that," answered Ahsoka. "If we track the trajectories of the individual pieces, we should be able to predict where they'll land. Then we can evacuate the affected areas."

Kenth nodded his head. "Sounds like a plan. I'll get our analysts on it now." He stepped away from the holotable and went to confer with one of the other Jedi.

Jetzu added, "And I'd better get back to the rescue op. We've got a lot of work to do." With that, her hologram disappeared.

The remaining people gathered around the table continued to monitor the situation and coordinate with various agencies. As they conversed, Ahsoka studied the holomap, her eyes darting from the smoky pillar that had consumed Obsidian Towers to the red dots denoting Sith warriors on the loose to the debris field hovering ominously above the surface. Three attacks. All without an army or a fleet in sight. She would not have believed it were she not seeing it all at the same time. And, for the hundredth time that morning, she asked herself, How did this happen?

Throughout the temple, Jedi were hurrying to the hangars where ships and airspeeders waited to ferry them to various trouble spots on Coruscant. Within moments, the temple would be nearly deserted; almost every Jedi available had been called to action to protect the citizens of Coruscant and fight the Sith intruders.

Except the one Jedi who wanted to help the most was being ordered to stay behind.

"People are dying," Ben Skywalker stressed. "I can help them!"

Stationed outside the open door to the Skywalker quarters, Jedi Knight Valin Horn responded, "I'm sorry, Ben. But Master Tano ordered me not to let you leave."

"That was before the attacks started!" Ben protested. "I'm sure she's changed her mind! She'd want as many Jedi as possible out there."

"And if she does change her mind, she'll let us know. Then you can go."

Ben sighed in exasperation. He knew Ahsoka would never change her mind. In her eyes, Ben had committed treason, so he had to be treated as such. It was completely unfair. Ben had had no idea that Vestara Khai had been a Sith. In all the time he had spent with her, there had not been any sign pointing to her true nature. If he had even suspected her, he never would have brought her into the Jedi Temple. True, he had knowingly broken the rules by doing so, Sith or not, but that did not warrant house arrest, in his opinion. Besides, no harm had been done. Ben had watched Vestara the entire time. There was no way she could have done anything to sabotage the Jedi or report secrets back to the Sith, and she never would, now that she had been locked up. Ahsoka was clearly overreacting.

No, Ahsoka was not going to let Ben go, so he had to appeal to the Jedi she had assigned to guard him. Valin was the son of Jedi Master Corran Horn. Although he was a decade older than Ben, they had developed a friendly relationship over the years. Surely, Ben could convince him to see reason. "Valin, you know how bad things are out there. You know every Jedi counts. Don't you want to be out there, too?"

"Of course, I do," answered Valin. "But I have to put my feelings aside and follow Master Tano's orders. You should too." He added, "Isn't that why you're in trouble in the first place?"

Ben had had enough lectures for one morning. "So you're just going to do nothing and let innocent people die?"

That was the wrong thing to say. Valin leaned in close to Ben with a severe expression on his face and said, "I am warning you as a friend; don't test me."

Ben considered apologizing for his last remark but thought better of it. He did not want to give the impression that he was backing down. Instead, he turned around to look at the news feed being displayed by the holoprojector. The image showed Obsidian Towers wreathed in smoke, with a counter at the bottom corner indicating the quickly rising death toll.

He wondered if Nysilla Zabeth was included in that number.

Returning his attention to Valin, he said, "Look, someone I love is at Obsidian Towers. I need to make sure she's safe."

With a touch of sympathy in his expression, Valin nodded. "I understand. But there are plenty of Jedi there now, helping with the rescue op. If she's alive, they'll get her out." But Ben could sense his doubt. There were too many people to save and not enough people to save them. Even if Nysilla survived the explosion, there was no guarantee that she would escape the fire or the imminent collapse of the towers.

Ben shook his head. "That's not good enough for me."

"I know it's not. Tell you what; I'll make some calls and see if I can find out anything. I'll let you know if there's any news about this woman."

With a sigh and another shake of his head, Ben turned around to regard the news feed once more. It could be hours—or even days—before anyone found Nysilla. Ben could not bear to spend all that time worrying himself to death waiting for news. Also, the longer he had to wait, the less likely it was that she was still alive. That constantly growing fear and despair would eat him alive.

But it was not just Nysilla he was worried about; he was worried for all of the other people who were victims of the attacks. He knew more than any other Jedi how savage the Sith were and the horrible things they were all too willing to do to innocent people. He had survived Dromund Kaas, where he, Nysilla, and thousands of others had been enslaved by the Sith. He still carried the scars from the torture and abuse he had endured, but they were nothing compared to the memories. Memories of watching others subjected to torture and abuse more severe than his own. Of agonizing screams and sobs. Of rain and mud and lightning. Of fire. Of the furnace. Of bodies. Piles of bodies. Bodies of children.

He looked once more at the counter on the holodisplay, which now numbered in the fifteen thousands. Fifteen thousand more innocent people confirmed dead. And the Sith were responsible for all of them. The accursed Sith, who had been terrorizing the galaxy for over a year, spreading their savagery to hundreds of other planets. And now they were on Coruscant, supposedly the safest place in the galaxy. This sacrilege could not go unpunished; Ben would make certain of that.

With his decision made, Ben whirled around and thrust his open palm at Valin. But the older Jedi Knight must have sensed his intentions, for he leapt out of the way of the Force push. Ben charged through the open door of the apartment, hoping to sprint past Valin before—

Too late. The second he stepped into the Jedi Temple hallway, Valin met him with a gut punch that nearly caused Ben to double over. But he recovered quickly and retaliated with his own punch to his opponent's face. Except Valin redirected the blow with his left forearm and punched Ben again with his right fist, connecting with the same spot as the first punch. Fighting through the pain, Ben continued to engage Valin in hand-to-hand combat, trading punches and kicks that barely seemed to faze him.

Finally, Ben intercepted a blow by catching Valin's fist in his palm. Gripping tightly, he spun around, twisting Valin's arm behind his back, eliciting a pained groan. Then, without hesitation, Ben kicked Valin in the back of his leg, forcing him to his knees. "You can't stop me, Valin," the younger Jedi said, still holding his opponent's arm in a painful position. "Just let me go."

Unexpectedly, Valin kicked back with one of his legs, the heel of his boot hitting Ben squarely in the knee. In response to the intense pain, Ben cried out and lost his grip on Valin's arm. Before he could recover, Valin cupped one hand over a clenched fist and swung around with both arms, striking Ben across the face with enough force to knock him down.

For a second, Ben simply lay on the floor, rubbing his aching jaw while Valin stood over him. The older Jedi had ignited his lightsaber and was pointing it down at Ben's prone figure. "Don't make things any worse for you than they already are," he said. "Go back into your quarters, stay there, and I'll pretend none of this ever happened."

Ben considered his options. He could do as Valin said and return to his quarters, but that would mean condemning Nysilla to death. That was something he absolutely could not do. He had to escape the temple, but first he had to find a way to get past Valin. He did not want to continue fighting his friend, not least of all because he was sore from all the blows he had sustained. He certainly did not want to engage him in a lightsaber duel or cause him any bodily harm, however inevitable that may seem. The only other possibility he could think of was using the Force to incapacitate Valin long enough for him to escape. Like his father, Valin had no telekinetic abilities, so he would not be able to counter an attack through the Force. However, he could still anticipate it, as he had done earlier. Ben would have to distract him somehow.

Thinking quickly, Ben summoned his lightsaber into his hand and used it to bat Valin's blade away. At the same instant, he used the Force to launch him into the air to collide with the ceiling and then slam him back down to the floor. The force of both impacts was enough to knock Valin unconscious. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ben extinguished his blade and gingerly stood up.

He looked down at Valin, filled with deep regret for the pain he had caused his friend. Without a doubt, any chance at mercy or redemption had been well and truly blown. First, he had committed treason, aiding and abetting—among other things—a Sith spy. Now he had attacked a fellow Jedi. Ben had no choice now but to become a fugitive. Ahsoka and the other Jedi would hunt him down until he was in prison.

But not before he saved Nysilla. She was all that mattered to him now. He had to go to her, to ensure she was safe, and exact revenge on any Sith he might encounter. He was determined to make a difference, even if his deeds would go unrecognized by the Jedi.

Leaving Valin behind, Ben sprinted down the hallway toward the nearest hangar.

Thank you for reading this chapter! If you have any comments or questions, please leave them in your reviews or private messages.