Diversity Alliance

18

Later on, as the night hung dark around them, Jacen looked up into a sky bristling with sharp pinpoints of stars. The broad band of the galaxy’s midsection stretched overhead like a pearly river.

He felt the weight of thousands of years of unchronicled history seeping out of Kuar’s ruins, ancient mysteries trying to tell their stories. At their isolated encampment, the tiny crackling fire did little more than emphasize the deep blackness of space lurking overhead.

Jacen could barely even see the blocky outlines of the crumbling buildings in the rains below. Just last night, camping out had seemed fun, despite the adventures that had shown the young Jedi Knights all too clearly what dangers lurked inside the abandoned structures.

Tonight, however, an ominous feeling hung in the air.

Lowbacca sat alone, quietly moaning to himself as he touched the graft bandage that covered the wound on his ribs. But Jacen knew the Wookiee’s greater pain came from the deep sadness of losing Raaba again. She had disappeared, taken off in her ship—just as she had done before … At least this time Lowie didn’t believe that the young Wookiee woman had been devoured by a carnivorous syren plant.

Raaba was alive but she was still gone.

Before going to bed, Lowie had told Jacen that Raaba had promised to find him again … someday. Jacen hoped it would be soon. He felt the deep pain and grief emanating from his Wookiee friend.

Despite the companions’ invitation, Tyko Thul had insisted on sleeping inside his own ship. As he left the others, he was clearly in high spirits. He was delighted to have found some inkling of Bornan Thul though why Raynar’s father had come to this isolated place to meet with some scavenger, he could not understand…

Tenel Ka had quickly fallen asleep, using her warrior skills to snatch a moment of rest, storing her energy for whenever she might need it. Jacen could tell by the placement of her supple body, the ever-present tenseness in her limbs, and the rippling muscles beneath her smooth skin that the warrior girl was staying on the edge of full alertness. With only a moment’s warning, Tenel Ka would be wide awake again and ready for battle.

Jaina sat next to her twin brother. They both remained silent, comfortable with each other. The glow of the fading campfire splashed around them. Jaina tucked a strand of straight brown hair behind her ear and blew out a long sigh.

Jacen looked into the sky, watching a brief but intense shower of shooting stars.

“Look at that he said,” pointing. “It’s a meteor storm.”

Jaina nodded. “That happens when a planet’s orbit crosses the path of an old comet. The leftover debris burns up in the atmosphere, making all those shooting stars.” But then she stiffened, squinting as she stared upward. “Wait! Those aren’t shooting stars.”

The blazing meteors fell in a perfectly choreographed sequence of parabolic arcs, growing brighter, streaking down across the sky as if under some sort of propulsion system. They left glowing trails in their high-speed descent; sharp deceleration through the atmosphere caused their hulls to glow bright red.

“Those are ships coming in for a landing!”

As soon as Jaina raised her voice to say the words, Tenel Ka snapped out of her slumber. She sprang up from the ground, instinctively landing in her fighting stance.

The brilliant, uninvited ships screamed overhead with shock waves of sonic booms so loud they nearly deafened Jacen.

Jaina covered her ears. Lowie roared in frustration. Jacen wondered if perhaps the ships might be Raabakyysh returning with her friends. These vessels were sleek warcraft, though, heavily armed.

The pilots appeared to be in attack formation and did not seem interested in making any compromises.

Uncle Tyko scuttled out of his brass-colored ship, shaking his head and blinking his bleary eyes. “What is it? Who is it?” he spluttered, looking up into the sky as the dazzling ships whirled about in long thundering arcs and came around for a second pass. The warcraft streaked back toward the tiny encampment in an assault pattern.

“We are under attack,” Tenel Ka said.

As if on cue, heavy blaster fire lanced out to explode in bright puffs when the ships howled past. Blaster bolts gouged molten craters in the ground and set some of the ancient buildings in the crater on fire.

The last two ships in the squadron came in with more specific targets. One blast showered sparks from the starboard engine of the Rock Dragon, turning the hull plating to slag and ruining one of the passenger cruiser’s stardrives. “No! ” Jaina cried, helpless to stop.

The second attack was far worse, though.

With precise targeting from full-powered blasters, the assault ship pummeled Uncle Tyko’s transport, bombarding the tarnished-brass ship with irresistible energy until the craft exploded. A long plume of debris and flames spewed from the ruptured fuel pods.

“My ship? Uncle Tyko wailed. “How am I going to get home now?”

Jaina grabbed his fleshy arm and pulled him along as Jacen sprinted beside her.

“Let’s worry about surviving this night first, okay?” Jacen said.

“Besides, my sister can fix just about anything.”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Jaina said, looking back over her shoulder at the flaming mound of debris.

Lowie charged up to join them as they ran for cover, avoiding the smoldering Rock Dragon just in case it became another primary target.

They all ran toward the ramps that descended into the abandoned stadium, hoping to find shelter there.

The warships decelerated, hovering over the encampment. In midair they disgorged silvery armored figures, not quite humanoid, that leaped out of the craft to drop from a height much greater than any human could have survived.

“Are those armored soldiers?” Jacen asked, “Space-troopers in full droid armor?”

“No,” Jaina said, “not men in combat armor … I think they’re droids— assassin droids!”

“That means real trouble,” Uncle Tyko said. “Run into these tunnels! The droids will have heat-seeking optical sensors to help them locate us, but we need to stay ahead of them any way we can. Move!”

Five of the powerful assassin droids landed on the ground with clanking thuds, their armored legs spread apart, their mechanical arms drawn up in perfect balance.

Like automaton soldiers, they engaged their myriad weapons systems and marched forward, led by one droid that towered above all the others … It was also much more menacing.

“In here!” Uncle Tyko said, ducking low as he ran through an archway into a crumbling mazelike structure.

Jacen hoped that no vicious nocturnal predators lay inside the shadowy catacombs.

Their group could only handle one invincible enemy at a time.

They had no choice but to run blindly into the dark.

The squad of assassin droids stopped outside the maze entrance, lined up in ranks, then raised their weapon arms without even bothering to come inside the ruins. The droids fired from where they stood, blasting the exterior walls of the ancient structure. Explosions knocked down columns and support braces. Crumbling stones fell apart in clouds of choking dust.

“Oh, my!” Em Teedee cried. “What are we to do?”

“Run,” Jaina said. “We’re going to run.”

The squad of assassin droids lowered their weapons and assessed the destruction blazing around them. Then they marched forward in lockstep over the rubble they had just created.

The tallest machine took the lead. His head was long and cylindrical, studded with flashing red optical sensors. The powerful droid moved with mechanical grace, each step an implacable advance toward its target.

“Oh, no—I recognize that one,” Uncle Tyko said. “It’s IG-88—the worst of all the assassin droid bounty hunters! He has some sentience programming and obeys no human orders. We’re done for!”

“Indeed?” Em Teedee said. “Quite fascinating. According to my files, IG-88 disappeared long ago, about the time of the Emperor’s death. He hasn’t been seen since.”

“Gee, how’d we get so lucky then?” Jacen said. “Too bad he couldn’t just have stayed hidden for a little while longer.”

“If IG-88 is leading this group of assassin droids, then they won’t give up easily,” Jaina said.

“This is a fact,” Tenel Ka answered.

“Even worse assassin droids rarely miss when they fire their weapons.”

The companions dashed deeper into the shadows away from the fallen pillars and walls, searching for a place to hide. The assassin droids marched after them, weapons loaded and drawn, continuing their relentless pursuit.