Obliques: Peace in Our Time

"Many Je'daii yearn to explore the stars past Furies Gate, and I wonder if they do not understand that they are blessed. The worlds beyond may be filled with horrors beyond our comprehension. They may be a great, lifeless void. Or perhaps they teem with a billion species and civilizations for whom the Force means nothing at all. I am not sure which possibility is worst."

Osmael Orr, Mirror to the Infinite, c. 1,000 TYA

Year 57 of the 3rd Devaronian Cold War
11,347 TYA

The view from the Found Horizon's broad cockpit window panned across stars until the blinding glow of Devaron's sun took front and center. With a touch of the controls the transparisteel dimmed and so did the stellar light. Then the starship's occupants could look directly at the sun and the cluster of black specks falling toward it.

It was done. Sohr felt relief fill the cockpit; not just from Vediah and Koltatha, who sat at the ship's controls, but from the Devaronian observers who'd been brought aboard. There were four of them: two from the Northern League, two from the Southern Alliance. They'd bled emotions into the Force since coming onto the Horizon. First they'd been frightened, then skeptical, then frankly terrified as the Jedi starship soared away from the planet with stunning ease. Koltatha, at the helm, had turned the ship to face Devaron so that these guests might see their world from space for the first time. That awe had sustained them all the way to the sun, where the Horizon had ejected hundreds of nuclear warheads into space.

The observers were still watching the black specks dwindle against the sun's glow. Sohr gave Vediah a tiny nudge with the Force, and the young Devaronian woman took her cue. Standing from her seat she began speaking to the observers, explaining what had been done and that the weapons were now beyond recovery. Now they would return to a world where the threat of nuclear war had been drastically reduced.

Sohr understood none of their speech, but he didn't need to. The other Devaronians were relieved, but not half as relieved as Vediah. Despite being the youngest and least experienced of the three Jedi she'd been forced to shoulder the heaviest burden on this mission. Despite the pressure and her self-doubt she'd performed admirably, and Sohr sent her wordless congratulat-ion, which she returned.

Sohr savored those feelings as Koltatha piloted the Horizon back to Devaron. Unlike his companions he'd not been born into the Jedi Order but traveled to Tython to enlist. He'd been raised on a distant Kwa colony, and he'd been the only one with its power. Its gift had left him lonely, and he'd voyaged to the Jedi seeking community.

He'd found it as a teacher. He'd schooled several different Jedi in his long life, and for over fifteen years he'd mentored a human named Erakas, guiding him from child to young adult. Years ago Erakas had been cast into space in search of an ancient Tythan generation ship; nothing had been heard from him since. It was, sadly, not unusual for Jedi exploration teams to go missing, but in his heart Sohr believed that Erakas was still alive. Their bond in the Force was strong enough that one would feel if the other died.

After Erakas left he'd been listless and found himself craving another student. Then, finally, the Jedi had mounted this mission to Devaron. Vediah, though still an apprentice, was the only Devaronian available. Her knighthood had been rushed so she could be put into action. Sohr volunteered to lead the mission because she'd need a strong mentor, and because he wanted to mentor again.

She'd passed her first major test here. The cold war that had frozen Devaron for sixty turnings would end thanks to her. Like Erakas, she'd one day make a very potent Jedi.

Koltatha was older and more experienced, but he had things to learn also. The Noghri had trained with the best weapon-masters on Ska Gora and was a firm believer in the schism between light and dark. He so pledged himself to the light that his piety left him suspicious of non-Force users like these Devaronians, who had no natural feeling for Ashla or Bogan.

When the Found Horizon reached the planet it burned easily into the atmosphere. One of their guests said something nervously in Devaronian, which Vediah translated into Tythan.

"He says none of them had ever been to space before. Hardly anyone on their world has. It's much harder for them, and more dangerous."

"The Devaronians developed spaceflight on their own, without other races' help. Tell him that's admirable."

Vediah did. Sohr felt the guests' gratitude, but their awe did not diminish.

Awe was not the same as trust, but at least after today the Devaronians would accept the Jedi as real beings and not fairy tale phantoms. That was an improvement, Sohr thought, and worth the risk of bringing people aboard. He'd sensed their thoughts all the while and felt many things, but never duplicity or ill intent. It gave him confidence that the Devaronians and Jedi had a future together.

The Found Horizon set down at the same location it had taken off from: a military outpost on the planet's equatorial steppe, where the boundaries of the Southern Alliance and Northern League met. The facility normally belonged to the League but for this occasion the Alliance had been granted joint ownership. Soldiers from both governments were gathered outside the Horizon when it set down on the field.

As the observers began to depart one of them stopped Vediah for words. When he left, she told Sohr and Koltatha, "He offered an invitation for all three of us to come into the compound for a celebration ceremony."

"On whose behalf?" asked the Noghri.

"He was from the Alliance but the League extends welcome too. Their foreign ministers have just arrived at the compound to sign the treaty."

The explained the wide-winged aircraft sitting on the facility's long runways. The Horizon had set down apart from it, outside the high walls and electrified fences that protected the compound. Sohr asked, "What did you tell him?"

"I said we're honored, and we'd considered it." Her eyes said she was leaving it up to him.

"You should certainly go," Koltatha said. "You played a huge part in this. You've earned it."

The fur on Vediah's face fluttered; her species' version of a blush. "He said they want us all to come. I think most people are curious what you two look like. They've never seen non-Devaronians before… and I think it would help them trust you."

Koltatha flinched inwardly at the word; Sohr could feel it. These Devaronians might never fully trust a band of off-worlders with mysterious powers, but it was important the Jedi act openly to show they had no ulterior motives. Growing up among Force-deaf Kwa, he'd learned that for every secret you kept, they assumed you held five more.

"I believe we should accept this invitation," Sohr decided. "And frankly, I have gotten sick of being cooped up inside the Horizon."

"Very well," the Noghri acquiesced. "Should we bring weapons?"

For Jedi, weapons meant the specially-forged swords that Tythan warriors had carried for millennia. Vediah had wisely gone unarmed to the negotiations, and Sohr decided any show of force would be unwelcome now.

"Leave your swords here," he decided. "We will always have the Force as our tool."

They nodded and left the cockpit. Minutes later, all three were gathered at the top of the Horizon's extended ramp. Vediah and Koltatha went down first, side-by-side. Sohr shuffled behind them, tapping the ground with his walking stick.

As they approached the compound and its waiting guards, Koltatha said, "I thought we weren't bringing weapons."

"Today this is just a stick," Sohr said plainly.

A mix of League and Alliance guards allowed the three Jedi to pass through the gate. Barbed electric wire topped the high wall, and soldiers peered down at the off-worlders with the now-familiar mix of awe and suspicion.

The inside of the compound was indeed military. Walls and floor were concrete slabs, the ceiling pipe-lined metal. After they passed through two more gates a well-dressed Devaronian male stepped up to them, bowed, and talked.

When he was done Vediah translated, "This is a deputy for the Alliance. He says they've set up a waiting room for us. Their minister will be along to see us soon."

Sohr nodded and the Jedi continued. They were finally moved into a square room with a high ceiling. It might have been used for storage once, but now it was bare.

The deputy made a few more bows and comments, then exited the room, leaving the Jedi alone in it. Suddenly it was very quiet. Koltatha looked around with narrowed eyes.

"I imagine they're watching us somewhere," he commented.

"They will not see anything valuable," Sohr said, "and they cannot understand our words."

The Noghri looked to Vediah. "Did he say how long the wait would be?"

"No, just that he'll be here soon." She examined the room too. "I admit I was hoping for something a little nicer, but this is a military base. Anyway, Jedi aren't supposed to be big on creature comforts."

Koltatha chuckled once. "Fair. I've been in worse places than this. But it feels too close to a prison cell for my liking."

The words brought a shiver of discomfort through the Jedi. They all felt it, and as the waiting stretched on, silent minute after silent minute, the discomfort grew.

Finally Koltatha said, "Something's not right."

"They're just taking a little long," Vediah said hopefully.

As always, they looked to him for guidance. Sohr wished he could be as certain as young Jedi always expected their Masters to be. He reached out for hint of busy minds beyond the walls. He felt something near: cool, determined, and yes, threatening.

How had he not sensed it before? Why hadn't the Force warned him before stepping inside the chamber?

Sohr choked back anger and said, "We need to leave."

But as soon as the words left him, the room began to grind around them. The concrete wall to his left slid down, revealing a smaller room separated from their own by vertical metal bars. Inside that room were five soldiers: three in League uniforms lifted automatic rifles, while two in Alliance garb carried heavier guns attached the power packs on their backs.

All five guns fired at once. The rifles shot bullets; the other guns released washes of flame.

The Jedi leaped back as one and raised a wall in the Force, but it couldn't hold back everything. Bullets broke through, skirting Sohr's shoulders and flank; another slug ripped through the tight muscle of Koltatha's thigh. Worse was the blast from the flamethrowers. It singed the skin of Sohr's tail and right leg, sending excruciating pain through his body. Even when they pushed the rest away the fire turned the concrete-walled room into an instant oven.

The riflemen kept spewing bullets. The Jedi had no defenses. Another few seconds here meant instant death.

Sohr did the only thing he could. He called on the Force with all his desperation—and yes, anger—and pushed against the ceiling. Koltatha and Vediah saw it too and joined their power with his to wrench the shallow metal dome free of its bolts and push the roof off the chamber.

Smoke immediately rushed up and out, but the bullets kept coming. One skimmed Vediah's shoulder, another her leg. Koltatha fell as a shot cut into his heavy Noghri brow. And Sohr felt two bullets pierce his stomach below the ribcage.

Desperation and anger were all he had now, but they gave him power. Sohr lurched, grabbed Koltatha, and then Vediah by the waist. Summoning the Force and all the power left in his thick saurian legs, he jumped.

They surged through the torn-open ceiling and landed on an adjacent rooftop. All three Jedi collapsed. The pain in Sohr's stomach was excruciating; his burnt skin nearly as bad. Koltatha's head swam and Vediah clasped her bloody shoulder. Beneath, the sound of gunfire stopped. The soldiers knew their quarry had gotten away, but the chase was far from over.

"Why?" Vediah asked. It came out like a sob.

"There is... no time," Sohr groaned. "You must run."

Koltatha rose to two legs; Noghri were nothing if not durable. "To the ship," he said, and pulled Vediah up by the arm.

Just then a door to the rooftop burst open. More soldiers with rifles spilled through and began firing.

There was no way they could survive this, no way at all, and it was Sohr's fault. He should have seen this. He should have protected his wards. He'd prided himself on being a great mentor but he'd led them to disaster, and why? Because he'd so desperately wanted to believe this mission would succeed. Because he'd trusted the Devaronians to trust him.

"Go!" the Kwa hacked.

He Force-pushed Vediah and Koltatha in the direction of the Horizon. Then he raised his walking stick and wrenched off the lower two-thirds to reveal the thin steel blade hidden inside. He did not like to use weapons and he'd shed blood with this one only a few times in his centuries-long life, but he'd do what he had to protect the younger Jedi.

More bullets tore through his skin. The Jedi Master roared like a wounded animal. He smashed and slashed his attackers with one hand and whipped his wounded tail to crack legs. He slashed expertly through necks and stabbed weak points in enemy armor. All the while, soldiers kept coming. Bullets tore through skin and muscle and spilled black blood.

He couldn't win. He just prayed he could buy the others time.

As he fought and killed and was killed in turn, as agony blossomed in his body and consumed his mind, Sohr's lifelong certainty shattered. How had his faith in the Force led him to this? How could he have trusted it to protect him against a galaxy that saw his gift as a threat?

How could he have been so wrong?

It was a miserable thought, and his last. He lifted his arm to bring his blade down on one soldier, but another to his flank lifted his rifle and popped a single shot. The bullet nearly caught Sohr's bicep; instead it skimmed past and shattered his skull. Against an inch-long slug of metal, the immortal power of the Force meant not a thing.