Shadow Academy

18

Jacen, Jaina, and Lowbacca were at first surprised and delighted that they would be together for the next exercise—but the grim expressions on Brakiss and Tamith Kai soon soured their pleasure. Obviously, Jacen thought, the two Shadow Academy instructors had something difficult and dangerous in mind.

“Because you must move forward in your training,” Brakiss said, motioning outward to represent progress, “we have designed exercises to present greater and greater challenges for your abilities.”

Lowie groaned in dismay.

“For this next test, the three of you must work together. Each trainee must learn to act in concert with others to assist our cause. There are times when we must be unified to provide appropriate service to the Second Imperium.”

Em Teedee parroted from his place at Lowie’s waist, “Oh, most certainly—appropriate service to the Empire.”

Lowie growled at the translating droid to be quiet.

“You needn’t take that tone with me! I am simply reinforcing the things you need to know,” the reprogrammed Em Teedee replied, miffed.

The three companions found themselves in a new room this time, smaller, more claustrophobic, with numerous round hatches built into the walls on every side.

Tamith Kai went to a control panel in one corner and tapped in a series of commands with her long-nailed fingers. Four of the metal hatches slid open, and spherical remotes floated out on repulsorfields.

The remotes were metal balls studded with tiny lasers. They reminded Jacen of the defensive satellites that had been unable to stop the Imperial blastboats from invading GemDiver Station. He felt uneasy, wondering if the floating drones would start firing at them.

“These remotes are your protection,” Tamith Kai said. “That is, if the Wookiee can operate them correctly.”

Lowie growled a question. “Oh, do be patient, Lowbacca,” Em Teedee said. “I’m sure she’ll explain everything in good time. She’s quite good at this, you know.”

Brakiss gestured to the remaining hatches on the wall. “These will open at random,” he said, “and they will hurl objects at you.”

Brakiss reached into the folds of his silvery robe and withdrew a pair of polished wooden sticks, each about the length of Jacen’s arm. He handed them to the twins.

“These are your only weapons: these sticks—and the Force. If the Force is your ally, you have a powerful weapon.”

“We know that already,” Jaina snapped.

“Good,” Brakiss said, his intensely calm smile still in place. “Then you won’t object to the other restrictions we place on you.” From his sleeve he pulled out two long, black strips of cloth. “You’ll be blindfolded. You must use the Force to detect the objects coming at you.”

Jacen felt his heart sink.

“When the objects fly at you, you must either nudge them aside with the Force or strike them with the wooden sticks.” He shrugged. “That is all. A simple enough game.”

Tamith Kai took up the explanation. “The Wookiee will be in an observation chamber, working to protect you as well. Hell have full control of the computer to run these four remotes. They have powerful enough lasers to disintegrate any of the projectiles. Of course, if he misses, and the laser strikes you instead, he could cause serious injury.”

“So”—Brakiss rubbed his hands together, a look of anticipation on his beautiful face—“you have your own weapons, and the Wookiee has the remotes. The three of you must work together to keep yourselves alive.”

Jacen swallowed nervously. Jaina lifted her chin and scowled at the two teachers. Lowie bristled, clenching and unclenching his hairy hands.

“Let me point out,” Tamith Kai said, her voice thick and powerful, “that these are not holograms. These are real threats, and if one strikes you, you will feel real pain.”

“Just what kind of objects are these, anyway?” Jacen asked. “What’re you going to throw at us?”

“There will be three levels to your test,” Brakiss answered. “During the first stage we will throw hard balls at you. They may sting, but will cause no permanent damage. In the second round, as the test speeds up, we will throw rocks, which could break bones and cause serious injury.”

Tamith Kai’s deep red lips wore a broad smile, as if she were savoring some pleasant thought. “The third round will involve knives.”

Jaina sucked in a shaky breath.

“Glad you have such faith in our abilities,” Jacen grumbled.

“I will be greatly disappointed if you are both killed,” Brakiss told them, his expression earnest.

“Hey, so will we,” Jacen said.

“I think he’ll get over it before we will,” Jaina added in a low voice.

Jacen shifted his weight on his feet and covered a wince as he stepped down on the hard Corusca gem in his boot. He had kept it hidden there, not knowing what else to do with it—but right now the last thing he wanted was to feel the sharp gemstone under his heel and be distracted. He wiggled his foot until the gem was tucked comfortably off to the side.

Brakiss snugged the blindfold over Jacen’s eyes, and everything went black. “The Wookiee will do what he can to protect you.”

Jacen gripped the hard stick in his hands and considered dealing the Dark Jedi teacher a good whack on the kneecaps, then claiming he had become disoriented by the blindfold and it was an accident. But he decided that such an act would only buy them trouble, and they needed their energy for other purposes.

“Good luck,” Brakiss said, unseen, close to his ear.

Jacen didn’t respond, and he heard Tamith Kai chuckle as they led Lowie out of the chamber. The Wookiee moaned, but Em Teedee’s tinny voice snapped back, “Now, Lowbacca, complaining will do you very little good. You must learn to be brave and dedicated, as I am.”

Jacen, standing in blackness with nothing to hold on to but his stick, heard the doors hiss shut behind them. “You ready for this, Jaina?” he asked.

“What kind of question is that?” she said.

The room remained silent around them. He could hear himself breathe, his heart pounding in his ears. He sensed Jaina beside him, heard the rustle of her clothes as she moved.

“Might be better if we stand back-to-back,” she suggested, “cover each other as much as we can.”

They pressed themselves shoulder-to-shoulder and listened and waited. Soon they heard a hum of machinery, a quiet, grinding sound, as one of the metal portholes slid open. Jacen reached out with the Force to see through the blindfold, to detect where the projectile would come from.

Then, with a sudden whump of compressed air, one of the objects shot at them like a cannonball. Using his senses, Jacen whirled, swinging the stick like a bat. He tried to smack the ball out of the way, but it struck him on the shoulder. It was hard, and it stung.

“Ow!” he yelped. Then a second ball shot out. He heard the sizzle of the remotes firing, but then Jaina also cried out behind him—not so much in pain as in startled embarrassment.

He tried to visualize where the next missile would come from. The noises came faster now. He heard another metal porthole hissing open, another hard ball shooting toward him. He swung the wooden stick, and this time grazed it with the edge. He felt a surge of triumph, but realized that he had hit the ball more through blind luck than any skill with the Force.

Another hiss of a porthole, another ball, and another, coming from a different direction. Under Lowie’s control, the remotes shot tiny blasts at the flying balls. Jacen heard an impact and thought perhaps Lowie had struck one of the targets. He hoped the lanky Wookiee wouldn’t misfire.

Brakiss had instructed them to use anger to increase their control over the Force; as another ball hit Jacen in the ribs, the stinging impact did make him want to lash out in retaliation. But Jacen also remembered his uncle Luke’s lessons: a Jedi knows the Force best when he is calm and passive, when he lets it flow through him rather than trying to twist it to his own purposes.

Jacen heard a loud crack of wood as his sister struck one of the hard balls. “Gotcha!” she cried.

As he let his mind open up, Jacen saw a small, bright blur through the blindfolded darkness; and he knew the next ball would come from that direction. He used the Force to nudge it out of the way, and the ball swung wide, smacking the wall instead. Then he saw another bright blur, then another, and another, as more projectiles came, faster and faster!

He used the Force. He swung the wooden stick, trying to keep up with the flying balls. He sensed that Jaina was also doing better, and that the laser bolts from Lowie’s remotes seemed to be striking their targets more often. But with the sheer number of projectiles, Lowie had to miss occasionally.

Something hard and rough struck Jacen on the right arm just at the elbow, and the wave of blazing pain took his breath away. His arm went numb, and Jacen shifted the stick to his left hand, realizing that the test had reached its second stage—they were being bombarded with sharp stones.

In the observation chamber, Lowbacca worked frantically at his computer controls, guiding the four defensive drones. He fired their lasers and vaporized a few targets. But then the projectile launches picked up speed, and Lowie knew he didn’t dare misfire—because if he struck one of the twins with a laser, it would do at least as much damage as one of the stones.

He missed another one, and a rock hit Jaina on the thigh. He saw her blindfolded face crumple in a wince of sudden agony. Jaina’s knees buckled, and she nearly went down; but she managed to keep her balance somehow, swinging automatically with the stick and deflecting another stone that came straight at her head.

More sharp rocks hurtled toward the twins, launched with deadly speed. Lowie began shooting all the remotes at once—targeting, firing, targeting, firing. He had already slagged one of the portholes so it could no longer launch stones. But despite his best efforts, he missed again, and this time a rock struck Jacen in the side.

The twins were both hurt now, badly bruised and reeling, though they kept fighting as best they could. Lowie groaned a quiet apology and kept working at the computer controls.

Em Teedee spoke in a sharp, pestering voice. “Need I point out, Lowbacca, that the Empire will be quite disappointed if you don’t perform to the best of your abilities in this test?”

Lowie didn’t waste energy telling the translating droid to be quiet. He worked the complex controls, calling up programming, reassigning parameters, hammering instructions with his left hand, controlling the remotes with his right hand, using everything he knew about computers. Lowie had a desperate plan—but his attempt absorbed part of his concentration. In his moment of distraction more and more of the hard rocks got through to pummel the Jedi twins. But Lowie had no choice, if he was to make his plan come off.

He sensed that in order to demonstrate their power, the teachers at the Shadow Academy were willing to risk hurting their students. As long as they were left with the strongest trainees, they didn’t care if someone actually got killed during the exercises. Lowie’s only hope was to bring it all down.

He glanced up, tossing ginger-colored fur out of his eyes, as the stones kept flying.

Jacen was on his knees now, dazedly swinging one-handed with the stick. His right arm hung limp at his side. Lowie saw that both of his friends were battered and bruised, and that still the rocks fired at them without mercy.

After a moment’s pause, something changed—and long metal knives began flying out.

Lowie worked close to panic, but forced his concentration on the computer. It was his only hope. Jacen and Jaina’s only hope.

The twins used their Force abilities to deflect the incoming blades into the walls, where they left long white scars on the metal. Another knife launched out. And another.

Frantically keying in more commands on the control terminal, Lowie let the floating remotes fall silent. He had one last idea. One last chance.

“Master Lowbacca,” Em Teedee scolded, “just what do you think—”

Lowie punched in a command string that he hoped would bypass all other informational sequences, then executed it.

Five portholes opened at once, each ready to launch its deadly knife blade—

Suddenly, the entire training room shut down. The lights winked out. The porthole doors slammed shut. Everything went dark.

With a heavy groan of relief, Lowie slumped back in his chair, running a broad hand over the black streak of fur above his eyebrow. At last he had managed to crash the murderous testing routine.

“Oh, Lowbacca!” Em Teedee wailed. “Dear me, you’ve really botched everything up! Have you any idea how much trouble it will be to fix this mess?”

Lowie smiled, showing fangs, and purred in contentment.

Brakiss and Tamith Kai charged into the observation room. The Nightsister, her black cloak swirling around her like a storm cloud, was furious. Her violet eyes looked ready to shoot lightning bolts. “What have you done?” Tamith Kai demanded.

Brakiss raised his eyebrows, an expression of proud amusement on his face. “The Wookiee has done exactly what I told him to do,” Brakiss said. “He defended his two friends. We didn’t tell him he had to follow our rules. It seems he accomplished the objective admirably.”

Tamith Kai’s wine-dark lips formed a sour expression. “You condone this, Brakiss?” she said.

“It shows initiative,” he said. “Learning to find innovative solutions is an important skill. Lowbacca here will be a fine addition to the defenders of the Empire.”

Lowie roared at the insult.

“Oh, Lowbacca, I’m so proud of you!” Em Teedee said.

Stormtroopers brought out Jacen and Jaina, who stumbled as they walked, obviously hurt. Their clothes were ragged and torn. Scrapes and bruises covered their faces, arms, and legs. Blood oozed from a dozen minor cuts, and the twins blinked their brandy-brown eyes in the bright lights of the observation room.

Brakiss commended both of them for their efforts. “A very good test,” he said. “You young Jedi Knights continue to impress me. Master Skywalker must be doing a good job selecting his candidates.”

“Better candidates than you’ll ever get,” Jaina said, finding the strength to defy him despite her injuries.

“Indeed,” Brakiss agreed. “That’s why we decided to take some of those that he has already selected. You three were only the first we obtained from the Jedi academy. You’ve shown such potential that we are now ready to kidnap another group from Yavin 4. From there, we’ll have all the Jedi students we could possibly use.”

Lowie growled. Jacen and Jaina looked at each other aghast, then at their Wookiee friend. Even without using the Force, the three companions knew they all shared the same urgent thought.

They had to do something—and soon.