Shadow Academy

16

Jaina left the lightsaber switched off and pushed it back toward Brakiss, but he wouldn’t take it.

“I won’t play your games,” Jaina insisted.

“We do not play at the Shadow Academy,” Brakiss said. “But we do practice. Important training for a Jedi.”

“Fighting stupid holographic monsters? I won’t do it anymore. I’ve done too much for you already. You may as well just take us home, because we’ll never serve your Shadow Academy.”

Brakiss spread his hands. “Ah, but you’re getting so good with the lightsaber,” he said, as if reasoning with a recalcitrant child. “Try it one more time. I’ll give you a worthy opponent, someone a bit more challenging to fight.”

“Why should I?” Jaina said. “I don’t owe you anything. I want to see my brother. I want to see Lowie.”

“You will see them soon enough.”

“I won’t fight unless you promise I can see them.”

Brakiss sighed. “Very well. I promise to let you see each other again, during classes. But only”—he held up one finger—“if you agree not to cause more disturbances.”

Jaina pressed her mouth into a grim line. For now, this was the best she could hope to accomplish. “Agreed.”

Then Brakiss said, his tone disturbingly encouraging, “Think of it this way—the more training you undergo, the better chance you’ll have if ever you fight against me. Consider it … training for your eventual escape, hmmm?”

She found the calm smile maddening on his smooth, handsome face.

“There will be another change in our session this morning. As you fight, you will be shrouded in a holographic disguise. It will not hinder your movements, but you may find it a bit distracting. You must learn to fight wearing this three-dimensional mask: for the good of the Empire, we may occasionally need to deploy our Dark Jedi in disguise.”

Jaina held the lightsaber in front of her. “All right, I’ll fight this one training session—then you have to let me see my brother and Lowie.”

“That was our agreement,” Brakiss answered. “I’ll go arrange it now. Meanwhile, good luck.” He slipped back out the doorway, and it sealed shut.

The flat gray walls flickered, and Jaina saw shadows wrap themselves around her—not enough to blind her, just a blur. She realized it must be the holographic costume.

On the other side of the room an imaginary wooden door groaned open, and Jaina rolled her eyes. Just a corny illusion, as everything else had been. Jaina was not amused. Her only challenge was trying to figure out how the equipment on the station worked. Someday she would foil the Shadow Academy bring its systems crashing down. For now, she would play along with Brakiss, and eventually she would find a way to turn the head teacher’s schemes against him.

Her new opponent stepped out of the barred dungeon doorway—a tall, looming figure wrapped completely in black. The black plasteel mask echoed and hissed as Darth Vader breathed through his respirator.

Startled, she caught her breath, instinctively flicking on her lightsaber. Brakiss wasn’t playing fair! This went beyond any of the other illusions he had sent against her before. Darth Vader had been killed before the twins were even born, but the Dark Lord of the Sith had been her grandfather; she knew all about him.

Vader’s lightsaber was a deep pulsing red, like fresh blood, glowing with light from within. Jaina felt both anger and dismay rise within her, and she stepped forward to confront him. Her holographic costume swirled around her, but she didn’t let it distract her.

Jaina hated the evil acts Darth Vader had performed during his alliance with the Emperor—but she also loved the idea of what her grandfather Anakin Skywalker could have been, the good man he had become in his last moments when he turned against the Emperor and ended his reign of terror.

Whether it was her own fear or something deeper, Jaina sensed a great uneasiness in the training chamber, a pulsating dread that slowed her movements.

Darth Vader took advantage of her shocked hesitation. He came toward her, scarlet lightsaber sizzling. His breathing echoed all around her. Vader slashed with the weapon, and Jaina countered with her own beam, producing a shower of sparks as the energy blades crossed and struck.

They struck again and again. Thrusting. Parrying. Attacking. Defending.

Jaina swung, trying to land a blow on Darth Vader’s chest armor, but the Dark Lord brought his own beam up to crash against hers. She backed away as he attacked with greater strength, slashing, striking with his lightsaber. The shrieks of electrical discharge nearly deafened her. But as Jaina began to falter, she pretended Vader was Brakiss or Tamith Kai—the ones who had kidnapped her and brought all of them to this school of darkness—and was able to defend herself with renewed strength, this time pushing Vader back.

She struck blow after blow. The lightsabers clashed, but Darth Vader seemed to draw strength from Jaina’s fury. They fought on for a long time, neither gaining the upper hand. Jaina lost track of how many minutes or hours passed.

They stood with lightsabers crossed and electric arcs flying around them, pressing against each other, straining with all their might. But Vader could not defeat her, and she could not defeat him. They were equally matched.

She gritted her teeth and strained, her breathing heavy, her lungs burning cold. She gasped, but would not let up. Vader also did not stop.

“Enough!” Brakiss’s voice came over the intercom.

The training room’s holographic simulation faded, leaving her standing in the flat gray room, her lightsaber still crossed with her opponents. Only now she could see who her adversary really was.

Jacen.

In the control room, looking down at the displayed images from the simulation chamber, Brakiss tapped his fingers together. With great pleasure, he watched the twins battle each other.

Wearing his dark Imperial uniform, Qorl stood beside him, observing the activity. The monitor showed none of the holographic disguises, just the twins fighting, battling to the death—and not even knowing it! Their lightsabers crossed and locked, neither twin overpowering the other.

Qorl remained silent for a long moment, fidgeting with restrained anxiety. Finally he said, “Isn’t this dangerous, Brakiss? With one slip, those children could kill each other. You would lose two of your best trainees at the Shadow Academy.”

“I doubt I’ll lose them,” Brakiss said, dismissing the thought with a wave. “But if one kills the other, then we will know which is the stronger fighter. That is the one we must concentrate our training on.”

“But what a waste,” Qorl said. “Why would you do this? What is the point?”

Brakiss turned to the old TIE pilot, allowing just a trace of anger to show on his perfect face. “The point is to obtain and develop the strongest fighters for the Empire. The most talented Dark Jedi.”

“No matter what the cost?” Qorl said.

“Cost is of no consequence,” Brakiss replied. “These young twins are simply tools to be used—as you are, as we all are.”

Qorl frowned and watched the continuing battle. “Are you saying the twins are expendable?”

“They are ingredients … components to be installed in a great machine. If they do not meet our stringent testing requirements, they are no good to us.

“But perhaps you’re right,” Brakiss said, finally conceding. “They have both fought well and demonstrated their skills with the lightsaber. Now to make a real impact on them.”

He turned on the comm. “Enough!” he said, and disabled the holographic disguise generator.

The twins cried out, then sprang apart, astonished to discover they’d been fighting each other.

After a few moments Brakiss switched off the intercom, not wanting to listen to the children’s outraged cries anymore. He shrugged and smiled at Qorl. “I did promise to let her see her brother. I don’t know why she should be so upset.”

Qorl turned away and walked toward the exit, so Brakiss would not see the depth of his uncertainty. The harsh treatment of Jacen and Jaina disturbed him, affecting him against his wishes.

“Their training is coming along quite nicely,” Brakiss said as Qorl reached the door. “I am pleased with their progress. They will become great Dark Jedi in our service.”

Qorl made a noncommittal reply as he slipped out and closed the door behind him.