Shards of Alderaan

1

Morning mists clung to the rubble of the Great Temple, making the huge stone blocks dangerously slippery as the repair crews set to work.

In the aftermath of the battle against the Shadow Academy, the jungle moon of Yavin 4 had been wounded and scarred. But now all of Luke Skywalker’s new Jedi Knights worked together to heal … to rebuild.

Jaina Solo, already sore and sweaty from hours of hard work, climbed to the top of a fallen stone block and surveyed the wreckage around her. Surely the damage couldn’t be as bad as it looked from here….

The ancient temples had withstood the jungle’s best efforts to tear them down for thousands of years. Two decades earlier, the Great Temple had served as a secret base during the Rebellion’s initial struggles against the Empire. Years later, Jaina’s uncle Luke had established his Jedi academy in the abandoned pyramid—making the small world a target for the remnants of the Empire once again.

Ancient as the temples were, the recent attacks by the Second Imperium and the Shadow Academy had been the most devastating the great monuments had ever suffered.

Although the battle had taken its toll, the survivors of Master Skywalker’s academy worked day and night—not with despair, but hope. They had defeated the dark side of the Force. Now they had time to rebuild, to make everything stronger, because their enemy had been vanquished.

Halfway up the remains of the stair-stepped temple, cleanup crews climbed scaffolding made from saplings lashed together in a design Jaina herself had helped create. Clusters of Jedi students cleared battle debris from their headquarters while waiting for crews of New Republic engineers, architects, and laborers to arrive from Coruscant.

Tossing her head to keep her straight brown hair from getting in her eyes, Jaina stood watching for a moment with her hands on her narrow hips. She brushed a palm across her forehead to wipe away perspiration. Out in the surrounding jungles, other Jedi trainees hunted for shards of carved stone blasted from the Great Temple, cataloguing them so the pieces could be reassembled properly.

The task of rebuilding seemed enormous. Jaina found it hard to believe so much destruction could be caused by a single person. An Imperial commando had crept into the grand audience chamber during the height of battle, secretly planted his powerful explosives, and blown up the topmost levels of the Great Temple, killing himself in the process. Debris had pelted the battle-weary Jedi trainees, who had thought the day’s devastation over.

Including Zekk, she thought with a pang.

The rain of shrapnel had seriously injured Jaina’s friend-turned-enemy, Zekk, who had been threatening Jaina with his lightsaber at the time. Only after the blast did she realize that Zekk had actually saved her and the others … by preventing them from going into the temple he knew was doomed to explode.

Zekk had received medical attention at Lando Calrissian’s GemDiver Station, but had suffered a relapse on his return to Yavin 4. Jaina wondered if the dark-haired young man had simply been overwhelmed by the weight of his own gloom and guilt because of the evil work he had done for the Shadow Academy. Now he recovered in a restored room in the lower levels of the pyramid.

But Zekk had much to atone for, and he seemed intent on accepting the blame for all that had happened….

Up on the scaffolding Jaina saw her Wookiee friend Lowbacca and Tenel Ka, the one-armed warrior girl from Dathomir, assisting each other in shoring up a high, unstable section of wall.

Near them, balanced precariously on a wooden shelf, worked Raynar Thul. The son of a former noble from Alderaan, the boy traditionally wore garish and colorful costumes—though at the moment his robes were dusty and dirty. It seemed that his recent ordeal had begun a change in him for the better. He had been utterly humiliated in the struggle against the Shadow Academy, thrown into the river mud and discarded as an incompetent foe. Since then, Raynar appeared more subdued and was doing his best to pitch in, as if he had become aware that perhaps he wasn’t as important and talented as he had considered himself.

In the temple clearing a towering reptilian beast of burden moved about nervously. The ronto had been donated by a trader from Tatooine to assist the Jedi academy in its reconstruction efforts. The massive creature was skittish and difficult to handle at times, but its brute strength proved useful. Jaina watched the ronto tugging against ropes to move a huge block of stone into place beneath the main scaffolding supports.

She heard the shouts and calls of other Jedi trainees conferring as they bustled about. Their voices were clear in the misty air. The jungle itself seemed to watch in stunned silence as the Jedi academy tended its wounds and prepared to come back better than ever.

As the morning mist burned away and sunlight painted the forest floor, Jaina turned to see Luke Skywalker in his Jedi robe standing alone and motionless atop one of the tallest blocks. The sun shone directly into his clear blue eyes, but he didn’t blink. The Jedi Master watched the complex activity intently as his trainees pulled together to rebuild.

The Jedi academy would be strong again; its future was wide open. Jaina knew that now, after the final defeat of its greatest enemy, the New Republic could at last enter a golden age of peace and prosperity.

The scaffolding creaked beneath Tenel Ka’s bare feet, and she adjusted her balance, feeling her muscles ripple. Physical exercise always felt good, challenging, refreshing. Today she did not assume a fighting stance, but a careful acrobat’s posture that allowed her to scramble along the narrow log platform to the wall’s outermost stone blocks.

While some of the larger stones at the bottom of the rebuilt wall looked less stable, she knew her own layers of the reconstruction were solid. She had learned to pay careful attention to details, lest her own actions strike back at her. The sloppy and hurried construction of her first lightsaber caused it to explode during a practice session, and she had lost her arm. Now she knew mistakes could cost her life.

From above, Lowbacca grunted and reached down to haul up a pallet of stone adhesives that would cement the construction materials together. Moving with an easy grace, the lanky, ginger-furred Wookiee swung down from a carved rock ledge onto the scaffolding. He parted his lips and bared his teeth at Tenel Ka in a broad smile.

“Master Lowbacca, I do believe you’re showing off,” said Em Teedee, the miniaturized translating droid attached to Lowie’s fiber belt. The Wookiee chuffed in amusement and dangled from the scaffolding, smearing the thick adhesive into a crack between two large blocks lower on the wall.

Still hanging, Lowie turned about to find himself eye to eye with the towering ronto. The giant beast blinked and snorted in surprise, then plodded away, leaving Lowie to wrinkle his black nose in distaste at its bad breath.

“Oh, my!” Em Teedee wailed. “If only my olfactory sensors could shut down! They must surely run the risk of overloading from that dreadful stench.”

Tenel Ka offered Lowie her arm to help him back up.

Near the base of the wall, Raynar stood on the scaffolding in his colorful, dirt-smudged robes. The young man worked close to them, but still independently, not yet ready to become a full-fledged member of the team. He stretched out his hands and closed his eyes, concentrating as he attempted to use the Force to nudge the lower blocks into a more stable position.

Tenel Ka was pleased to see Raynar working to improve himself. In her experience of watching him, the overconfident Raynar had usually demonstrated more interest in his importance as a Jedi than in acquiring demonstrable Jedi skills.

In general, Tenel Ka herself chose not to use the Force if she could find any other way to solve her problems … though after her left arm had been severed, she had come to realize that all skills made up a person’s resources, not just their physical or mental abilities.

Below, the ronto handlers yelled at the creature, which turned from one side to the other, shifting beneath its heavy load. Confused by conflicting directions, the beast swung its head, trying to move along opposing paths but unable to decide which way to go.

Tenel Ka froze, sensing the trouble a moment before it happened. Trumpeting in distress, the ronto twitched its tail in agitation. The reptilian beast turned halfway around and clumsily bumped into the scaffolding supports that ran along one of the temple walls. Several Jedi trainees shouted and scrambled for cover.

A load of stone blocks tumbled from above as the vines holding a wooden pallet snapped. The blocks crashed down, banging into supports and dislodging a small keystone in the unstable portion of wall. As a result, the entire structure began to collapse.

Raynar stood right in the middle of the impending avalanche.

“Lowbacca!” Tenel Ka cried—and the Wookiee saw the boy’s danger the moment she did. She leaped out into open space, somersaulting as the wall shuddered and began to break apart.

Tenel Ka landed on a support strut right beside Raynar. The boy whirled about, sensing his peril but not knowing what to do. Above her Tenel Ka saw Lowbacca grasp one of the vines attached to the scaffolding. He swung down, yowling a primal battle challenge.

With only one arm Tenel Ka could not grab Raynar and swing herself clear of the falling rocks. Thinking quickly, she did the next best thing: she tackled Raynar backward just as Lowie came careening down toward them. Still holding on to the vine, the Wookiee slammed into the brightly robed young man, scooped him up, and whisked him away.

As Lowbacca dove aside, rocks crashed, tumbled, fell. Tenel Ka lunged out of the way, sprang down to the next level, and swung herself to the ground. Then she leaped forward with all her might, just one step ahead of the crushing stone blocks. Though normally grim and serious, she let out an exhilarated cry that rose above the clatter of the collapsing wall. She heard Lowbacca roar in triumph, too, having landed safely with the other Jedi trainee.

Startled by the loud sound of the avalanche it had accidentally caused, the huge ronto reared and bellowed, snapping its last restraints. It lumbered off, crashing through the jungle as its handlers fled to avoid being trampled.

Trembling and panting from the exertion, her heart pounding in her ears, Tenel Ka watched with relief as the last stones pattered down. Lowie stayed close to Raynar, who huddled on the ground trying to regain his composure. The young man brushed off his robes and managed a shaky smile as other Jedi came running to make sure no one had been hurt.

Seeing two days’ work collapsed around them, Tenel Ka shook her head. It was a disheartening sight … but merely a setback, not a disaster.

While the other Jedi trainees scrambled to straighten out the mess at the temple, Jacen Solo dashed into the jungle after the poor frightened ronto. He knew no one else would do it, and he was the best person for the job. Jacen had a knack for sensing animals and communicating with them.

The clumsy beast was naturally skittish, so it was hardly surprising that the loud roar of the stone wall collapsing had spooked it. The ronto had been taken from its dry desert world and brought to a frighteningly dense jungle to work in a place with strange smells, strange sounds, strange predators.

“Come here, ronto,” Jacen coaxed. Although he didn’t know the creature’s name, he knew that most animals could recognize a kind, understanding voice. “Come here, boy—it’s okay.”

The reptilian beast had plowed a wide swath through the underbrush, knocking branches aside, crushing weeds, uprooting vines. Jacen stepped over a broken tree trunk and waded through mashed bushes, sidestepping the deep footprints squished into the moist ground. The ronto’s trail certainly wasn’t difficult to follow!

He crept forward, sending out soothing thoughts … though he doubted the distressed ronto could sense him yet. Jacen knew the creature had a kind disposition and sincerely wanted to help, though it didn’t seem to comprehend its handlers’ instructions most of the time.

After nearly an hour, Jacen spotted the huge beast and approached it quietly. It had stumbled into a thicket and now stood trembling and exhausted, its sides heaving. Rows of peglike teeth glinted as the ronto opened and closed its mouth. Rivers of drool poured down onto the lush weeds. The creature’s leathery hide rippled as it shivered with fear.

“It’s all right. Good boy,” Jacen said, creeping closer.

The ronto turned its huge crested head, its giant eyes rolling…. Jacen approached with calm confidence, sending soothing thoughts. The creature could probably bite off his head with one snap of its jaws, but Jacen knew the ronto wouldn’t do that. He knew it meant no harm.

The beast had been frightened by the accident, and Jacen sensed the dim fear that it would be punished for its clumsiness. But Jacen cooed, easing forward. “Hey, want to hear a joke? Urn … why did the ronto run into the jungle?” He took another step. “Uh, I don’t know—I haven’t thought of a punch line yet. Got any ideas?”

The ronto eyed him warily and then, sensing that Jacen was a friend after all, suddenly became cheerful again, eager to please. It bent down and snorted.

“It’s all right,” Jacen said again. “We still want your help. You haven’t been bad. It was just an accident. You do great work.” He could feel the ronto’s happiness as he gave it that small nugget of appreciation. “You’re very strong.”

Finally reaching its side, Jacen stroked a rough leathery flank. The ronto leaned down to sniff him. He patted the beast’s head crest. “Would you like to help us?” he said. “Do you want to work? We’d really like that. It’s very important work.”

Jacen sensed understanding going off like fireworks in the creature’s mind, and he was almost overwhelmed by the exuberance.

Work, work, work, work!

The ronto wanted to be useful, wanted to show its strength and its willingness to help out. It liked to haul objects for its masters. But it had been confused by complicated tasks and too many strangers giving too many instructions all at once.

“It’s okay,” Jacen said. “We’ll give you some good work to do, and we’ll be happy to have your help.”

The ronto flared its head crest, and Jacen decided he could take the creature back to the Great Temple now—but it was a long walk. Silently asking its permission, he climbed up onto the beast’s back. Why not ride in style?

The ronto seemed utterly delighted to be put into service for such a task, and pranced proudly back through the jungle toward the Great Temple.