* Chapter 5 *

The hologram of Coruscant looked like a giant pincushion with hook-shaped needles. Numerous thin red curves poked out of the planet, beginning in red dots that represented pieces of starship wreckage from the debris field in orbit. A computer was keeping track of these pieces and running a program to calculate their most likely trajectories, shown by the thin curves, as they fell through the atmosphere. These trajectories ended at the center of red circles on the city-planet's surface, denoting the areas where the debris might impact. To Ahsoka Tano, it looked eerily like the planet was bleeding from where it had been stuck with needles.

Every news outlet was reporting on which areas would be hit and urging the people in those areas to evacuate. Law enforcement and public transportation agencies had been called into action to assist in getting as many people to safety as possible. Still, as Ahsoka and the others studied the holomap, they feared that there were too many people to move in too little time. The only light they saw in this situation was that the impacts had been predicted well ahead of time, so they had at least had advanced warning.

That relief was short-lived, however, as one falling dot split into two, as though by mitosis, and a new trajectory and impact zone were calculated and plotted for the second dot.

"What was that?" asked the hologram of Don Dain.

"A piece of debris must have broken apart," Ahsoka surmised. "That's probably going to happen to most of it."

"We should have thought of that," Kenth Hamner said bitterly. "It means that we have to evacuate even more people than we thought."

"It may be too late for that," said the hologram of Colonel Diimas Tol-Terro, indicating a label next to the new dot that displayed the estimated time until impact. "That piece is going to land in less than half an hour. We can't evacuate people that quickly."

"We have to try," Octa Ramis stated. "It's our duty to save as many lives as we can. We need to send out an emergency alert to everyone in the new impact radius. If we're fast enough, most people can make it out."

"Can we alter the simulation?" asked Ahsoka. "Can it show which areas would be affected if all of the debris breaks apart? In a worse-case scenario?" she added, realizing the complexity of her request.

One of the computer techs in the Jedi Temple Tactical Operations Center responded, "Yes, Master. One moment, please." She then set to work adjusting the simulation to meet Ahsoka's new requirements.

"Where exactly is the new impact zone?" To answer his own question, Kenth typed on the holotable console in front of him, causing the hologram to zoom in toward the new red circle. Half of it was obscured by a plume of smoke—the smoke from Obsidian Towers. Kenth sighed and shook his head. "The Force appears to be against us today."

"We need to contact Master Cilghal and Chief Jetzu," said Ahsoka. "We have to warn them."

While another tech began to carry out Ahsoka's request, the first tech spoke up. "I've finished the program, Master. If we assume every piece of debris breaks apart this instant into pieces large enough to not burn up on re-entry, these are the new possible impact areas." The hologram returned to its previous view, showing the entirety of Coruscant with the debris trajectories. Except the red circles were much larger now, giving the impression of blood spatter.

Tol-Terro could not suppress the curse that rose in his throat. "That's even worse! There's no way we could evacuate all of this!"

Octa shook her head. "You're right. All those ships taking off at the same time—it would be a gridlock. No one would be able to get out in time."

"Now, just a minute," Kenth interjected, "these are only possible impact locations, assuming all of the debris breaks apart right now. The odds of it hitting any particular area are extremely slim. I think it would be best to base the evacuations on the previous simulation and update them as needed."

"Just because the debris is unlikely to hit these locations does not mean they won't," Ahsoka pointed out. "We can't ignore all those lives just because it's more convenient."

"That's not what we're doing," replied Tol-Terro. "But we have to understand that we won't be able to save everyone. Sacrifices will have to be made."

"Well, I'm not willing to do that," Ahsoka responded curtly. A plan began to form in her head. "We'll get the word out that everyone in these larger areas needs to be prepared to evacuate but should not do so until we tell them to."

"Not that that's a bad idea," said Kenth, "but you do realize people are going to panic and try to evacuate anyway."

"Yes, I realize that. But at least it will decrease traffic and give everyone more time. This will save more lives."

Everyone exchanged looks, mulling Ahsoka's plan over in their heads. One by one, they nodded their consent—except for Dain, who was once again staring at the red dot that represented the Reliant. "Chancellor?" Tol-Terro prompted. Dain was aroused from his trance and turned to face the officer, who continued, "Do you agree with Master Tano's plan?"

For a second, Dain merely responded with a blank expression, as though he did not know what they were talking about. Then he nodded his head and waved a hand dismissively. "Yes, yes, I agree."

Ahsoka suspected that the chancellor had not been paying attention when she had laid out her plan. He was undoubtedly still preoccupied with his son's unknown fate. She was ready to pull him aside and talk to him. He needed to understand that people were looking to him to make life-or-death decisions and that he needed to focus on the situation as a whole.

Before she could do that, however, two new holograms appeared around the holotable. One was Chief Omaya Jetzu, overseeing the Fire and Rescue operation at Obsidian Towers. The other was Mon Calamari Jedi Master Cilghal, the Jedi Temple's chief healer, who had been sent with her team to treat the victims of the explosion.

Chief Jetzu was the first to speak. "Masters, Chancellor…" She turned to regard Tol-Terro, as though she had forgotten his military rank, and finally added, "Sir. I can't stay long; we're not even halfway finished clearing the buildings."

Ahsoka sighed sorrowfully. She had hoped that there would be more time for the rescue operation. "I'm afraid I have some bad news," she said. "We just learned that a piece of debris is headed your way. There's about a fifty percent chance that it will land within the blast radius. You have about twenty-five minutes before it hits. I suggest you evacuate everyone before then."

"Impossible," Cilghal stated brusquely in her exaggerated Mon Calamari voice. "Most of our patients are not stable enough to move. They must be treated here until they are fit for transport."

"Can they be ready in time to escape the impact?" asked Kenth.

Cilghal rotated her body back and forth, the closest she could come to shaking her squid-like head. "No, they cannot. You say there is only a fifty percent chance the debris will hit us. Where exactly is it projected to hit?"

Octa briefly consulted the holomap. "The northwest corner of the complex."

"My team and I have set up our operations just south of Obsidian Towers. We should be safe to continue treating our patients."

"I don't think that's a good idea," said Jetzu. "The explosions and fires have weakened the structures of the buildings. If the debris hits with enough force, it could cause a groundquake that could cause the buildings to collapse. I think we should listen to Master Tano and evacuate everyone we can."

"I will not leave patients here to die!" exclaimed Cilghal. "I swore an oath to heal those in need, and I will not abandon that oath! If I die upholding it, then so be it."

Kenth shook his head. "We can't risk losing you, Master Cilghal. You're too valuable as a healer."

"There are other Jedi healers who could take my place. They may not be as skilled as I am, but they are competent enough."

Ahsoka knew there was no point in arguing with Cilghal. Once she had made up her mind, she was unshakable. With that in mind, the acting Grand Master said, "If that is your wish, then we will honor it. Although I do hope you reconsider."

The healer bowed and responded, "Thank you, Master Tano."

Jetzu took that as her cue to cut in. "I will let my guys know that they need to get out as soon as they finish clearing the buildings they are currently in. They should have enough time to evacuate, and it may save a few extra lives."

"Hopefully more than a few," Ahsoka commented as she nodded her head in agreement. She hoped beyond hope that they could miraculously save everyone before the debris hit, although she knew that would not happen. She wished that she could tell Chief Jetzu to keep working, no matter what, but that would not have been fair to her or her brave Fire and Rescue crews. Besides, if the buildings collapsed…

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden sound of alarms going off accompanied by red lights flashing throughout the Tactical Ops Center. Everyone perked up in concern. "What's happening?" asked Dain.

One of the Jedi techs replied, "A proximity sensor just got tripped."

Everyone exchanged alarmed looks. "Is it the Sith?" asked Kenth. "Are they attacking the temple?"

After a long moment's hesitation, the tech responded tentatively, "I… don't know, Master. It looks like it's just one ship, but… it doesn't look like any ship I've seen before."

"Put it up on the holotable," ordered Ahsoka. A second later, the hologram of Coruscant was replaced with one showing the Jedi Temple. It then zoomed in to show a single object near one of the exterior walls. It was a ship, all right—a very unusual one. It resembled a ten-meter-wide rust-colored eyeball with four bat-like wings. Ahsoka recognized it instantly. "Ship."

"Yeah, but what kind of ship?" asked Jetzu.

"No, that's its actual name: Ship. It's a Sith Meditation Sphere. We've had run-ins with it before." Ben Skywalker had discovered Ship while stranded on Ziost. Jacen Solo, whose turn to the dark side had not yet been revealed, then gave Ship to his Sith master, Lumiya. Ship served Lumiya until her death, at which point it came to serve the Dark Jedi Alema Rar. Eventually, during a confrontation with Jaina Solo, fellow Jedi Knight Zekk drew on his old dark side training to convince Ship to seek out a new master. Apparently, it had found the Lost Tribe of the Sith and, later, Darth Hatus.

"What is it doing?" asked Cilghal. "Not even a Sith Meditation Sphere could attack the temple alone."

"Maybe it's carrying an attack force," Octa suggested, "sending them in."

"Or getting someone out." Even as Ahsoka said it, she had a feeling she was right. And she knew exactly who Ship had come for.

Surprisingly, Vestara Khai did not encounter any Jedi as she made her way through the temple. She figured that they must have all been sent out to deal with the Sith attack. Ironically, the attack she had tried to prevent had turned out to be her deliverance. That did little to console her, however.

Ship had told Vestara to make her way to the nearest outer wall. When the Jedi had brought her to her cell, they had led her down a hallway lined with large windows. Fortunately, she was able to retrace the route and return to that same hallway. Upon looking out one of the windows, she was shocked by what she saw.

The pristine Coruscant skyline was interrupted by a dark plume of smoke hundreds of meters in diameter and stretching all the way to the sky. Vestara realized that it must have been the aftermath of the Sith attack. She wondered what had caused the smoke, what damage had been done… and who had been killed. Her best hope was that it had been a military target, or perhaps a government building. She did not want to believe that the Sith had needlessly attacked innocent civilians, but after what she had heard about Dromund Kaas, she could not discount the possibility.

A few seconds later, her view was blocked by a large object rising up on the other side of the window. Ship had arrived. Come, Vestara, his voice said in her head. The Jedi have already detected me. We must leave now. He then rotated to one side, where a hole irised open on the surface of his hull, granting access to his interior.

Vestara placed a palm on the windowpane and poured the Force into it. Cracks spiderwebbed outward from her hand until the glass shattered. She then leapt through the broken window and into Ship. His interior was completely bare, as there was no need for controls or displays. Instead, Vestara sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor and connected with him through the Force. Soon, she could see everything Ship saw, including the Jedi Temple and the cityscape beyond. Then, everything shifted as Ship hovered away from the temple and began to ascend into the sky.

As they neared the edge of the atmosphere, they saw something else that shocked Vestara. Coruscant's orbit was littered with the wreckage of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of ships. Vestara identified some of them as Galactic Alliance Star Destroyers, but most of them were unfamiliar to her. Perhaps they had been military vessels, or cargo haulers, or civilian transports. Had the Sith been responsible for this, too? Had their attack been twofold?

Ship had undoubtedly heard Vestara's thoughts, for he said, Much has happened in your absence. I will explain everything on our way to Latru.

Latru? Vestara had never heard of a place by that name. Perhaps it was a new base of operations for the Sith. She would find out soon enough. A flicker of worry crossed her mind, which she quickly worked to extinguish. She did not want Ship to hear her doubts about the Sith and report them to Darth Hatus. She was already a failure; things would become far worse for her if it became known that her allegiance to the Sith was wavering.

"Still no word from the security wing."

Ahsoka grew increasingly worried as she heard this report from one of the Jedi Knights. If the Jedi in the temple's security wing was not responding after repeated hails, it meant that something had gone wrong. Vestara must have already escaped from her cell and incapacitated him—or worse. Ahsoka wished she had left more Jedi to guard the girl, except that would have meant fewer Jedi to respond to the Sith attack. The timing had been too inconvenient.

"Is it leaving?"

In response to Octa's question, Ahsoka returned her attention to the hologram, which now showed Ship flying away from the Jedi Temple. With a frustrated sigh, she bowed her head in defeat. This day just keeps getting worse, she thought. On top of everything else, now Ben and Vestara have both escaped.

An even more troubling thought crossed her mind: This can't be a coincidence, can it? Did they plan to escape at the same time? Are they actually working together? Ahsoka did not want to believe that was true. If it was, then it meant she had made a grave mistake allowing Ben to escape. And now, with both him and Vestara loose and potentially together, she feared that that decision would come back to haunt her very soon.

A police cordon had been set up around the area affected by the explosion. Laser barricades and lines of police droids blocked all roads in. Meanwhile, a crowd of onlookers were gathered in front of the cordon, curious to see what was happening. A sparse handful of them occasionally attempted to get through the barriers, begging the droids to let them pass so that they could search for a friend or family member. But most of them were simply drawn by their morbid fascination with the tragedy.

Ben Skywalker landed his airspeeder just beyond the cordon. Thick plumes of smoke rose from the buildings, coalescing to form a single massive column. Somewhere in there, Nysilla Zabeth was probably trapped in Obsidian Towers… or even dead. But Ben refused to consider that. He had to believe that she was alive; otherwise, his escape from the Jedi Temple would have been for nothing. After everything that had happened, he could not go back without condemning himself to prison. He had nothing left but Nysilla.

He climbed out of the speeder and jogged toward the cordon. The police droids took in his appearance and judged that he was a Jedi, based on his garb. They stepped aside to allow him through, believing that he had been sent to help. Ben hesitated as a small part of his brain questioned whether this was a good idea. He could very well get himself killed if he went in there. Without Nysilla, it's not like I would have much of a life, he told himself. That thought made the risk bearable.

Mustering his courage, Ben ran into the smoke.

"This is cruel and unusual punishment," Mek Dain muttered to himself. "I'm going to bring Mo'Ari up on charges for this."

"You're welcome to try, assuming you survive this and save the ship." Over the comm, Admiral Mo'Ari added, "And, by the way, we can all hear you loud and clear. Your comlink is always on."

Mek bit back a curse. Of course he knew his comlink was on; he just did not realize he had been speaking aloud. He wondered how much of his thoughts the captain and crew of the Reliant had heard. Hopefully, not everything. He was absolutely irate about the situation they had forced him into, and he was evidently doing a poor job of hiding it.

He was wearing a spacesuit that had not been designed for his Gran physiology, walking down one of the hallways of the Reliant. The reason for the suit was that he was in a part of the ship where the atmosphere had been vented during the attack, leaving only the vacuum of space. He had never bothered with extravehicular training, as he had believed that he would never be in a position where he would need it. After all, he had made a conscious decision to avoid dangerous situations in his rise through the military ranks. Even now, with his life dangling by a thread, he still did not believe he had needed the training.

There was no reason why he had to be the one out there, risking his life to save a doomed ship. There were plenty of people left aboard the Reliant, and any one of them could have done this job. Except Mo'Ari had deemed the mission too dangerous and refused to risk the lives of his crew. Mek could hardly understand why—the whole point of a crew was to do all the messy, mundane, dangerous stuff so the more important senior officers did not have to! Even so, with his backwards thinking, Mo'Ari could have done the job himself and not put anyone else at risk, except he was too much of a coward for that, apparently.

No, he chose to put the commander of the Coruscant Defense Force, arguably the most important person aboard the ship, in danger instead! All because he's a sniveling coward!

"Better a coward than a traitor," came the admiral's voice through the suit's internal comm.

That time, Mek failed to suppress the curse that rose to his lips. Had he been thinking aloud again? The entire crew must have been laughing at him. The thought infuriated him even more. In that moment, he hated every single soul aboard the Reliant with every fiber of his being. He wished he could kill them all and be rid of them.

He had not said that aloud, had he? He paused to listen to the comm for any response, but none came. Still, just to be safe, he decided to stop thinking about his unjust predicament and focus on the task at hand.

This part of the ship had escaped any major damage from the attack. The lights were still working, as were the artificial gravity generators, which meant that Mek could still walk normally. By all appearances, nothing was amiss. That all changed when he turned his head to look down a side corridor and a mess of twisted metal, sparking cables, and floating detritus came into view. There were so many hazards.

"This is where you need to turn," said the voice of Lieutenant Nobrian, who was guiding Mek to his objective.

He was hesitant to walk into the veritable minefield before him, but Mek knew he had no choice. If he did not complete this mission, the Reliant would be destroyed—and him along with it. After taking a few tentative steps down the hallway, he suddenly found himself slowly rising off the floor. An uncomfortable sensation coursed through his body, as though all of his internal organs had shifted within him.

Mek realized that the artificial gravity in this part of the ship was no longer working, so the only way to proceed was to float through space. After taking a moment to adjust to the unfamiliar feeling of weightlessness, he studied his surroundings, trying to figure out how to continue moving through the ship. When he was close enough to the ceiling, he pushed off at an angle so that he glided toward the edge of a blast door frame. Then, after grabbing hold of the frame, he pushed himself forward.

As he glided down the corridor, he used protruding pieces of damaged metal as handholds to propel himself, twisting to avoid all of the hazards. I was not made for complex space acrobatics, he thought bitterly. He was forced to turn himself around to avoid a floating cable snaking through the middle of the hallway. When he managed to bring himself facing forward again, he gasped in alarm.

Mek had just entered a cavernous space where a large chunk of the ship, at least two hundred meters long, had been blown away. To his right, at least ten meters away, was a charred and twisted cross-section of about ten decks, with everything between the walls and floors and ceilings exposed. When he turned his head to the left, nearly his entire field of vision was filled by the planet Coruscant. Due to the orientation of the Reliant, the planet appeared to be situated to the side of the ship. However, taking gravity into consideration, Mek knew that he was looking straight down at the surface of the planet. That thought alone was enough to make him lightheaded, but then he took in the space between him and the planet. It was filled not only with large chunks of starship debris, but also the bodies of people who had been blown into space and were beginning to fall hundreds of kilometers to the surface. If he was not careful, he would become one of those bodies.

Panic set in, and Mek began to hyperventilate. He probably would have fainted had the sensors in his suit not read his breath rate and adjusted the speed of the air recycler to compensate.

"Calm down," he heard Mo'Ari say.

"Calm down?" Mek repeated. "Calm down? I'm hanging hundreds of kilometers off the ground, and they expect me to be calm?!"

"Who's the sniveling coward now?" asked Nobrian, reflecting Mek's earlier insult back at him.

Before Mek could retort, Mo'Ari said, "Panicking is not going to make things easier for you. We are still in stable orbit above Coruscant, but not for much longer. Once our orbit starts to decay, you'll begin to feel gravity pulling you away from the ship, so make sure you hold on tight as you make the climb."

"Why the hell do I have to climb?" Mek spat. "Can't I just rocket up to the relay room?"

"As we've explained to you already," Nobrian began with annoyance, "your suit's built-in maneuvering thrusters have a limited amount of fuel. If you end up floating into space, you'll need them to return to the ship, which would use up most of your fuel to counteract the planet's gravity. So use them only when absolutely necessary."

Mek let out a despairing groan. "Isn't there some other way to fix the ship?"

"No," Mo'Ari stated definitively. "And you're wasting time with your whining, so get going. Which way, Lieutenant?"

Nobrian answered, "You need to go up three decks and then go horizontally to the fourth hallway."

Despite every instinct screaming at him to turn around and return to safety, Mek pulled his way down the remainder of the corridor and stopped himself against the edge of the final door frame. There was still about two meters of corridor left before everything fell away. Looking ahead, there were no protrusions of any kind that would allow him to turn sharply and climb along the adjacent wall to reach the cutaway wall.

"I can't go any further," he said into his comm. "There's no way for me to climb over to the other wall."

"Then kick off the corridor wall and float," responded Nobrian.

"Float?" he repeated incredulously. "But what if the gravity comes back while I'm floating?"

"Then you use your thrusters to get back to the ship, like we just told you!" the lieutenant replied angrily.

"Watch your tone, Lieutenant!" Mek spat back automatically.

"You don't get to give commands anymore, traitor," Mo'Ari cut in. "Do what the Lieutenant says if you want to live."

Mek wanted to scream. He had several retorts lined up to lob at the insubordinate admiral, but he knew they would get him nowhere. The only thing he could do now was save himself by saving the ship—along with everyone who knew what he had done. He was tempted to let the Reliant be destroyed to eliminate all witnesses, except then he would be dead, too. And he very much valued his life. He had gone through too much effort, too much risk, and too much underappreciation to let it all go to waste. If they all survived and Mo'Ari accused him of treachery, Mek would have to fight him on it. He did not relish the prospect, but what other choice was there?

He turned so that his back faced the end of the opposite corridor wall and craned his neck as best he could to look behind him. Gathering what little courage he had, he aimed and pushed off with his hands and floated toward his target. He raised his legs so that his boots landed flat on the opposite wall and then bent his knees to absorb the impact. The momentum from his diagonal movement caused the rest of his body to swing like a pendulum. Then, when he was leaning at just the right angle, he kicked off and floated freely through space.

A sickening feeling rose from his stomach as he watched the cutaway wall slowly glide toward him while his body was not in contact with any surface. He could not even feel the effects of acceleration or velocity, so he had no idea if he was moving at a constant speed. If Coruscant's gravity began to pull at him, he would only realize it once he noticed the wall slowing down and moving away from him. He hoped that, by then, it would not be too late to use his thrusters.

An extremely long minute later, Mek reached the cutaway and grabbed a pipe protruding from the space between the floor of one deck and the ceiling of another. He breathed heavily as his anxiety over the death-defying maneuver slowly faded. Once he had sufficiently calmed down, he looked around for a way to climb up… How many decks? Three? Yes, three. He saw embedded in one of the walls another pipe that ran the entire height of the cutaway. He climbed over to it and wrapped both hands around it. Then, one hand over the other, he pulled himself up, counting the rooms he passed. One. Two. Three. Now, the fourth hallway across. He looked to his right. There was one hallway closer to where he had come from. Okay, so that means I only have to go three hallways across. Good. It was still a long way to go; there were two rooms separating each hallway. Using protruding pipes, cables, and bent-up metal panels, he began the long horizontal clamber.

On the bridge of the Reliant, a holographic display showed the Star Destroyer in its current wrecked condition. Areas where the atmosphere had been vented into space were shown in red, while areas that were still habitable were shown in blue. And a single green dot, moving slowly along the ruined exterior, represented the location of the homing beacon in Mek Dain's EV suit. Admiral Mo'Ari and some of the other officers were using the data to track his progress as he attempted to save their lives.

Lieutenant Nobrian buried his face in one hand and said, "You should have let me do it, sir. He's going to get us all killed."

Mo'Ari was beginning to agree. He had not expected the commander of the Coruscant Defense Force to be such a coward. But it was too late to turn back. They were all running out of time. Mek Dain had to get to the relay room and get the ship's thrusters back online before it was too late.

In response to Nobrian's statement, he explained, "Like I said, you're too valuable to risk. You know the ship's power systems better than anyone left aboard. If something else goes wrong, I need you here, on the bridge."

"But why send him over any of the other crew?" asked Nobrian.

"Because he values his life above everything else. That drives him to do whatever it takes to survive. And, right now, saving this ship is the only way to do that."

"But this is much bigger than him. This is about the crew. Not to mention the thousands of people on Coruscant who will die if this ship crashes. Should we really be betting all of those lives on a traitor?"

"We're betting those lives on a miracle," Mo'Ari corrected. "No matter who we send out there, our odds of survival are uncomfortably low." At Nobrian's despairing expression, he shifted to a gentler tone. "These are the kinds of moments where a commander is tested. When any action is likely to be futile, when defeat is unavoidable, the line between right and wrong choices gets blurred. Sending Dain out there may have been the wrong choice, but sending you or anyone else wouldn't have been any different. Right now, we all want the same thing, and that is to survive."

After a moment, Nobrian nodded his head somberly. "Forgive me, sir, for questioning you."

Mo'Ari clapped a hand on the other man's shoulder. "It's good to call out superior officers when you doubt their orders. Maybe someone should have thought to question Commander Dain; then maybe none of this–"

"Oh-no, oh-no, oh-no, AAAAHHHH!" Both officers jumped upon hearing the scream that emanated from the comm system. They exchanged fearful looks as they imagined what fate could have befallen Mek Dain… and what that meant for the fate of the Reliant.

What happened to Mek? Something bad, we hope? This was a fun chapter to write simply because I got torture him by putting him so far out of his comfort zone!

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