And if I recovered that Harrower, I was a lot more likely to avoid censure from Darth Lega. Heck, I might even be able to negotiate another promotion. Or I might just crash it into Kaas City and make a run for it. Eh, I'd figure it out.
...
"But they will never surrender so long as Darth Angral remains in control of that ship," the Little Jedi said. "So we need to lure him to the surface."
"Precisely."
"Then let's stop wasting time," Natia declared. "Take us in, Jedi."
Not wasting any further words, the Jedi Knight threw open the throttle rocketing us towards the blue, green, and white pearl gently rotating in space. The whole image spun wildly as he yanked on the control yoke to spiral us into the shadow the ruined space station. As the corvette cruised along the top of the space station, I got a lovely view of the glowing red rents and tears in the skin of the installations. Occasionally, little five-pointed starts clustered around one of the holes in the space station.
They spun gently in the vacuum of space, their uneven forms catching the light in unexpected ways.
Bodies.
They were bodies. Human and alien alike. Not everyone had made it to the escape pods to be used as hostages against my little coalition. Someone would have to recover them, I knew, but I did not have time to dwell on it. We were clear of the space station in seconds and our course brought us into prime position for the Harrower's guns to get a lock on us.
Streaks of green light flew in our directions as we hurtled towards the atmosphere. Red and silver triangles were mixed into the laserfire, maneuvering in a way that turbolaser bolts could not. The Jedi Knight twitched the controls slightly, bringing one triangle into clear view before opening fire with guns of his own. A starfighter, I realized.
Blue light flashed around the fighter for half a second before being replaced by a small explosion once its shields failed. The next three triangles were met by proton torpedoes and shared their friend's fate while we made it safely into the atmosphere.
No further fighters attempted pursuit as the Defender tore through the atmosphere like a meteor. Instead of impacting on the surface as I had been fearing, however, the Jedi Knight pulled us up in time for us to skim comfortably above the top of the trees that covered the surface of the planet.
Or rather, what had once been a forest.
Vast patches had been reduced to charred clearings where turbolasers had struck. The places that had been struck more than once had become deep craters that burned orange and red from the magma created by repeated blasts. The mountains that had framed the many valleys and vales had fared little better; a bare handful still sported snow-covered peaks. Most were in the process of shedding their faces in a series of rockslides and avalanches. More than a few had lost their peaks entirely, looking more like a freshly erupted volcano than anything else.
If nothing else, all the stone and mud and melting ice and snow looked to threaten the fire that was blazing merrily all around the planet.
Vast swathes of ancient treed were consumed by tongues of flame licking up and around them, spreading with alarming speed. Even as we soared past them, I could see individual trees collapsing under their own weight and spreading the fire even further.
At the controls, the Jedi Knight whispered a very elaborate string of profanity that would have made me smirk under ordinary circumstances. Right then, however, I was trying to wrap my mind around what I was seeing.
"I really hope you managed to evacuate your people," I said.
"Blast, the village!" the Jedi Knight exclaimed, yanking harshly on the control yoke to adjust our heading. Then he moved it more gently to counter the over-correction.
"The village?" Natia asked. "There are actual settlements on this secret world of yours? You're kidding!"
"It's not far from the temple," he explained. "But it's run by pilgrims. There is absolutely no reason to bomb it."
"You think that would have stopped Darth Angral?" I asked.
"... no. No it would not," he allowed. But he did not change course. A second later, his head whipped around to face me. "Wait. Nestor. You can control fire, can't you? Like you did in the fight against Nefarid?"
"I can," I allowed. "But I've never done it on this scale. Not to mention that I usually work in the other direction."
"I thought size didn't matter when it came to the Force?" Razma asked, making a very valid point. There was a very good chance that the only blocking point was my mind, that thinking would get in the way of doing.
"Normally, yes," the Little Jedi said. "But there are still some limits to what a Force-user can do."
"Like how most Sith do not just create a wall of lightning," Natia pointed out.
"Or tear warships out of the sky," Bybon added.
"Let's not give her any ideas," I said, but it was too late. The child was looking at the massive apprentice with sparkling eyes. "But we have nothing to lose by not doing it."
"And if you can't?" Natia asked. "What then?"
"Then I put Plan E into action," I said, shooting the Little Jedi a look. "I'll need backup for it, though."
Her eyes widened fractionally at my words as she remembered our stay at the Panteer Palace. Back then, Plan E had been my last ditch emergency plan: using the Dark Side to sustain myself and buy myself some more time before the insomnia caused by the bugs put me down for good. That the plan ended with the Little Jedi killing me had been met with strenuous objections from her.
"I will do what I can," she said, giving no indication that she had changed her mind since then.
"What about the rest of you?" I asked. "You feel like joining in?"
"No," the Jedi Knight said. "I'll be heading to the Jedi Temple, or whatever is left of it. If we split up while his ship is busy fending off a two-pronged attack, Darth Angral won't be able to spare the firepower to take a shot at either of us. If I taunt him some more, maybe he'll come down himself."
"Try insulting his son some more," I said before turning to the others. Not the padawan, though. I knew she was going with her master.
"I'm…" Razma began to say before I cut her off.
"You're staying with the ship," I said. "I am not getting you killed this quickly. Do you know what Lady Thul would do to me?"
"Please don't visualize it," Levin remarked from his seat. "I really don't need that image jammed into my mind."
"Good of you to volunteer to help the Jedi Knight and his padawan," I said. "Anyone else?"
"I'll join Levin," Bybon said. "Loa?"
"Me too." The apprentice from the Sphere of Imperial Intelligence nodded for emphasis. I turned towards Natia, expecting my ally to join her fellow apprentices in shadowing a Jedi Knight and maybe getting within spitting distance of the Jedi Temple. Naturally, I was wrong.
"You're no use to me if you just throw yourself into a fire," Natia said. "I'm assisting with the village."
"Me too," Razma said.
"Didn't I say you're sticking with the ship?" I asked.
"The droid can handle that," she answered. In response, the droid gave a warble that sounded more than a little indignant.
"T7 has a name," the Jedi Knight corrected. Outside of the viewport, a small village built in a small valley came into view. A double ring of buildings was clustered around a crudely maintained central square. Off to the side, sheltered in an even smaller sub-valley, if that was a thing, fields of crops grew in various stages of maturity.
Naturally, ruin had not escaped this place. The passes outside of the valley were blocked by rubble and craters, preventing any kind of mass evacuation. The vast expanse of forest around the village had become a merry bonfire, blazing away and filling the air with smoke.
"I'm not seeing a landing pad," I pointed out.
"We can jump," the Little Jedi said. "Slowing your fall is fairly elementary."
"On second thought, I think I'll stay with the ship after all," Razma said. Natia rolled her eyes but joined the Little Jedi in marching towards the boarding ramp as we slowed down and switched to repulsors. For a few heartbeats, I hesitated, wondering if I should say something before leaving.
Ultimately, I kept it simple. "Godspeed."
"May the Force be with you," the Jedi Knight said, and I jogged after Natia and the Little Jedi.
Hopping over a railing and turning a corner was all it took to get to the door to the boarding ramp where the other two were waiting. The ramp was already lowered, sending the pressurized air inside the ship whipping out.
...
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