Heirs of the Force

18

The roar of twin ion engines shattered the deep stillness of the jungle morning as the TIE fighter returned to life. Birds squawked in terror and fled into the high branches. Dust and dry, crumbling leaves scattered in clouds around the Imperial ship.

Encased in the cockpit, Qorl throttled up the power, slowly, gently, as if feeling it grow at his fingertips. Foul brownish exhaust spat out of the clogged vent ports in the rear of the single-fighter craft. The Imperial ship growled, ready for action again after its long retirement.

The TIE pilot emerged from the cockpit, his battered black helmet in hand, the respirator hoses dangling and disconnected from his empty emergency-oxygen supply. Although the glossy blast goggles had been scratched and worn down during the years of his exile, he carried the helmet proudly, like a trophy.

Qorl was ready to report back to duty.

“Propulsion systems check out,” he said. “With the addition of the functional hyper-drive motor you installed, I am now able to cross the galaxy and find the remnants of my Empire. This short-range fighter could not otherwise have taken me there.”

“Good work, Jaina,” Jacen grumbled. She elbowed him in the ribs, and he fell silent.

“What are you going to do with us, Qorl?” Jaina asked the pilot. “Why go away from here? If you’d just come back with us to the Jedi academy, everything would be all right—the war is over.”

“Surrender is betrayal!” Qorl shouted, with a surge of emotion stronger than Jacen had seen in him before. The pilots hand shook as he pointed the ever-present blaster at them. “Your usefulness to me is at an end,” he said, his voice a low threat.

Jacen’s stomach clenched with sudden dread. Jaina had hoped to make the TIE fighter her own vehicle so she could joyride just like Lowie did in his revamped T-23. But the small fighter could carry only one person: the pilot. Qorl could never take them along as prisoners, even if he wanted to. Would the pilot remove his last obstacles—the only witnesses to his exile—with clean Imperial efficiency? Would he just shoot them both and then fly off in search of his home?

Jacen desperately tried to send calming thoughts to soothe Qorl, as he so frequently did with his crystal snakes. But it was no use: his mind encountered the rigid wall of brainwashing that had locked Qorl’s thoughts into unchangeable patterns.

The TIE pilot looked away, and his temper seemed to lessen. Jacen couldn’t tell if that was a result of his Jedi powers or if the Imperial soldier had simply been distracted.

“So what are you going to do with us?” Jacen asked.

Qorl glanced back at the twins, his face haggard. He looked very old and drained. “You have helped me a great deal. You were the only … company I have had for many years. I will leave you here alone in the jungle.”

“You’re just going to abandon us?” Jaina asked in disbelief. This time, Jacen elbowed her in the ribs. He didn’t relish the idea of being stranded in the jungle any more than she did, but several less-appealing possibilities had occurred to him.

“You can survive if you are resourceful,” Qorl said. “I know, because I did. Perhaps someone will find you eventually. Hope is your best weapon. It may not take twenty years for you to get home.”

He pondered for a moment, holding his dark helmet in his hands. Behind him, the repaired TIE fighter continued to purr, as if anxious to fly again. “You are lucky to be here, safe,” Qorl finally said. “I will rejoin the Empire. But as my last act here on this cursed jungle moon, I am going to destroy the Rebel base.”

“No!” Jacen and Jaina both shouted in unison.

“It’s just a school now. It’s not a military base,” Jacen added.

“Please don’t do this!” Jaina said. “Don’t attack the Jedi academy.”

But Qorl gave no sign that he heard them. He carefully placed the battered old helmet on his shaggy head and tightened down the blast shield.

“Wait!” Jaina cried, her eyes pleading. “They have no weapons in the temples!” She reached out with her mind, trying to touch the pilot, but he aimed his blaster at her and backed away.

Qorl climbed into the cockpit of the TIE fighter, eased himself into the ancient, torn seat in front of the controls, and sealed himself in. The twins rushed forward, pounding on the hull with their fists.

The roar of the engines increased and the repulsorlifts sent out a blast that knocked leaves, pebbles, and jungle debris in all directions.

The TIE fighter hummed, shifted from its overgrown resting place, and began to rise.

Jaina tried one last time to grab the hull plates, but her fingers slid along the smooth metal. Jacen pulled her back as the TIE’s engine power increased. The exhaust shrieked through the fighter’s cooling systems.

The twins staggered back under the protection of one of the overarching Massassi trees, alone and defenseless in the thick jungles.

Qorl’s TIE fighter, which had lain hidden and crippled on the surface of Yavin 4 for more than twenty years, finally rose into the air. Its twin ion engines made the characteristic moaning sound that had struck fear into the hearts of so many Rebel fighters.

With surprisingly skillful maneuvering and a burst of speed, Qorl’s fighter climbed up through the forest canopy and soared away toward the Jedi academy.