Dark Tide 2: Ruin

by Michael A. Stackpole

  Leia stared at him, a lump rising in her throat. A chill shook her, a chill she wanted to put down to exhaustion, but one she could not. She knew the Force could provide a flash of insight concerning the future. The dread she felt welling up inside her seemed so strong that she hoped it did not mean that Elegos’ mission was doomed.

  “Elegos, at least take some Noghri with you, someone to protect you.”

  “That is a kind suggestion, friend Leia, but the Noghri will best serve elsewhere.” Elegos canted his head to the right a bit and smiled at her. “This mission must be undertaken. If I am successful, we will all be saved.”

  Borsk snorted. “Are you really so naive as to think your mission can succeed?”

  The Caamasi stared at the Bothan for a moment, then half-closed his eyes. “The chances are slender, perhaps nonexistent, but can anyone here tell me the risks are not worth it if this war can be stopped?”

  Leia shivered. “And if you are not successful?”

  “Then, my dear, my fate will matter little, given the gravity of what will come.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Luke entered the auditorium and saw he’d made a tactical error in leaving the arrangements to Kyp. Tables and chairs had been set up on the stage, facing out toward the amphitheater where Jedi sat. The two tables on the stage were at right angles to each other, forming a wedge centered on a podium. To the left were Kyp Durron, Ganner Rhysode, Wurth Skidder, and the Twi’lek, Daeshara’cor. Her presence on that side surprised Luke because she’d always seemed to view Kyp’s rhetoric as being extreme.

  At the other table there were only three chairs. Corran Horn and Kam Solusar stood by two of them, conversing. Luke expected Mara to take the third, then sensed she was not behind him. He glanced back at the top of the stairs and saw her taking up a position in the auditorium’s shadows.

  Luke smiled. How like her to watch, assessing who is with me and who is not.

  The Jedi Master mounted the steps to the stage with no ceremony. At the top of them he paused and nodded to Kyp. The younger Jedi Master waved a right hand to indicate that Luke should move to the podium, but instead Luke spun and bowed to the sixty Jedi occupying the seats. “I welcome you. Not so long ago we had a meeting, and now events have drawn us together again.”

  Kyp moved behind the podium and adjusted the microphone, sending an audible squeak through the room’s sound system. “Master, the lighting and sound are better from back here.”

  Luke let himself chuckle once, then nodded and sat on the stage, letting his feet rest on the steps. “That may be true, Kyp, but those who know the Force will be better served trusting in their impressions that come through it, rather than their eyes or ears.”

  A wave of surprise pulsed off Kyp, then was cut off immediately. From the back of the room Mara gave Luke a nod. To his right, Kam and Corran came to the edge of the stage, then jumped down to the floor to keep themselves lower than he was. This pressured Kyp and his confederates to do the same thing, though Daeshara’cor seated herself on the edge of the stage and gathered her lekku around her like a shawl.

  “Thanks for joining me. You worked hard setting this up, but I didn’t really want it to be too formal. It made this too much of a council of war. What we need is a meeting of sapient beings who will decide the course of our future.”

  “Master, you are first among equals.” Kyp bowed his head to Luke. “Your wisdom will guide us.”

  Oh, Kyp, how surprised you would be if I used that opening to dictate what we will do. Luke could feel a sense of quick victory boiling off Corran, urging him to snare Kyp in his own web, but he shook his head. “Insight granted by the Force is not mine alone.”

  Wurth Skidder smiled carefully. “You suggested, Master, that this is not a council of war, yet we find ourselves at war with an enemy that is merciless and invading the New Republic. Is it not to counter threats like this that the Jedi were created?”

  “That is our goal, yes. How we get there is what we need to discuss.” Luke pressed his hands together and fell silent for a moment. “The Jedi are meant to protect and defend the people of the galaxy. The distinction between protectors and warriors is critical to avoid the seduction of the dark side.”

  Ganner Rhysode, tall and dark, with a hard, blue-eyed gaze, eclipsed Skidder. “Perhaps, Master, the confusion we suffer comes from the point where an offensive action can be defensive. A preemptive strike at a target, for example, is merely proactive defense.”

  Corran ran a hand over his mouth before speaking. “It’s semantic games you’re using there, Ganner. The way you frame that statement doesn’t take into account the scope of the operations you’re talking about. In a tactical situation where disabling an enemy’s ability to respond would guarantee the safety of others, you’re right, the strike is defensive. Staging a planetary assault to root out the Vong before they can spread and hit other worlds, on the other hand, is distinctly offensive in nature.”

  “Corran, your argument plays exactly to my point: what are the guidelines that determine where offense and defense switch one to another? I look for intent, you look at size. All of these variables must be balanced, clearly, and I think we all seek wisdom in marking the difference.”

  “A very good point, Ganner.” Luke smiled at him, then looked out at the Jedi gathered there. Humans and aliens of all genders, they projected keen interest, with concern tainting the edges. The Jedi Master nodded thoughtfully, felt the concern begin to drain away, then looked up.

  “The point of balance comes with the focus of the danger. The Yuuzhan Vong have taken a number of worlds. Now many beings are in jeopardy, but that jeopardy is unfocused. Until the threat goes from general to specific, we can’t use proactively defensive tactics against it. Corran’s example points out that on a tactical level, finding the danger’s focus is much easier than on some grander scale.”

  The green-fleshed Twi’lek’s head-tails twitched. “Then you are saying that until we detect this focus, we can do nothing?”

  Luke held his hands up. “Not what I’m saying at all. We do have things to do. We need to be out there, on the front, so we can be ready to react when a focus is detected. We have to be out there helping calm the refugees, inspiring them to take heart.”

  Kyp frowned. “But, Master, if we are not out there fighting the Yuuzhan Vong directly, how can we inspire? Will we not be seen as weaklings who are just as afraid of the enemy as the refugees are?”

  “Those very questions, Kyp, go back to a wrong way of looking at the Jedi.” Luke sighed. “It is my fault, because I emerged from the Rebellion cast as a warrior who had destroyed Death Stars, Darth Vader, and the Emperor himself. Later missions kept that myth alive. Given a choice between calling upon a bounty hunter or a Jedi, folks turned to the Jedi because we worked for free and are concerned about collateral damage.”

  “Master, you have not been alone in creating that impression.”

  “No, Kyp, but it was up to me to see the error of it and take steps to counter it. Again, the failure to do that has been mine. Now, better than any other time, we must project the correct image of the Jedi. We have to inspire hope for the people.”

  Daeshara’cor launched herself from the stage and landed in an agile crouch. She straightened up slowly, then bowed her head to Luke. “With all due respect, Master, I think you are wrong.”

  The Jedi Master kept his voice even. “Please, Daeshara’cor, explain.”

  The black-eyed female began slowly, her voice low enough to demand the attention of everyone in the room. “So much was lost during the dark time of the Empire, Master, that we do not know a lot about the Jedi; yet what we do know flies in the face of what you are saying. You were trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Master Yoda to be a warrior. Three times you engaged Darth Vader, and you survived or defeated him. For you to say now that Jedi are not warriors is to deny your success and the freedom of billions that your efforts won.”

  She glanced at the white-haired woman seated
in the third row. “Tionne has been tireless in collecting all the Jedi history she can, and what do we find: ballads and tales that celebrate great victories by Jedi. The martial aspect of our tradition can’t be denied, Master, and I think it is to this tradition we need to look again to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong.”

  Kam Solusar, his white hair cut short, folded his arms across his chest. “You’ve got a huge flaw in your logic there, Daeshara’cor. You say we’ve lost so much, then you build a whole based on the parts we do have. Fact is that for every grand battle a Jedi might have had, there could have been thousands of little victories. Victories just like the ones the Master is saying we’ll need to deal with the Yuuzhan Vong.

  “More importantly, his point about focus is critical. It’s obvious to everyone here. Kyp almost died fighting the Yuuzhan Vong. Miko Reglia did die fighting them. Why? Because they engaged the Yuuzhan Vong when they didn’t know who or what they were.”

  Kyp snarled. “But Corran had the benefit of my knowledge and his own scouting of the Yuuzhan Vong, and he came far closer to death than I did.”

  Corran nodded. “Yes. On Bimmiel the danger was very focused, and still I almost ended up dead. When we know enough to launch good missions, we’ll have a much better chance of success. Much better than with a series of amorphous efforts to attack and defeat the Vong.”

  Luke held a hand out. “We need to cool down here for a bit. We don’t want emotions flaring and things getting out of control. Regardless of beliefs in offensive or defensive postures, we all can see the wisdom of dealing with the Yuuzhan Vong when danger focuses itself, right? As Corran said, once we have a focus, we can plan and use our abilities to the best in dealing with the danger. Agreed?”

  Most of the Jedi nodded their heads, Kyp included—which made Luke feel a bit better. He may not agree with the course of action we will take, but he has agreed that his course requires limits, and that is a victory I’ll gladly take. Daeshara’cor was the only notable holdout, but she’d always been reasonable in the past.

  The Jedi Master smiled slowly. “I do have some bad news. We’re going to have some limits placed on our efforts. I learned from my sister yesterday that the New Republic will not sanction or support any Jedi operations in the invasion corridor.”

  “What?” Kyp’s surprise exploded out like a supernova. “That’s pure madness. We’re their best hope, and they won’t have us working with them?”

  Octa Ramis, a strongly built young woman from a high-gravity planet, shook her head. “It makes zero sense for them to do that. Then again, if that’s how the government’s thinking, being free of them might not be a bad thing.”

  Ganner scowled. “We have to make them change their minds. They have to see reason.”

  Luke waved away the comment. “Actually, I’m somewhat pleased with this decision.”

  “How, Master?”

  Luke sighed. “Octa was close to the mark. No sanction, no support, no answering to politicians. We’ll be free to use our own best judgment in handling problems.”

  Ganner ran a hand over his goatee. “But it strips us of resources we could use to handle problems.”

  “Then you’ll just have to be creative, won’t you?”

  Daeshara’cor shook her head. “How could they abandon us like this? After all we have done?”

  “It’s better they have.” Luke held his arms out. “We are perhaps a hundred in number. A hundred Jedi. If the New Republic was relying on us, they’d pitch us into the battle and expect us to take care of things. They did it before, more times than I care to remember.”

  He lowered his hands to the stage. “Face it, of late, our exploits have been less than awe inspiring. The problem at Rhommamool, for example, and even the loss of Dantooine. As Leia noted, the politicians can’t support the Jedi. This does not mean, however, that we will be totally alone out there. The military will be unable to help us overtly, but they are very sympathetic to us.”

  Kyp snorted. “What a surprise, warriors liking warriors.”

  Luke shook his head. “The leadership knows what is truly going on. Having us out there to deal with civilian difficulties will free up their people to do what they do best.”

  Skidder groaned. “So we baby-sit refugees while others do the fighting?”

  “We will protect them and guide them. If danger presents itself, then we take steps.”

  Kyp Durron raked fingers back through his dark hair. “And we do nothing more? We get no more active missions? Nothing going into Yuuzhan Vong territory?”

  Luke shifted his shoulders uneasily. “One mission. Corran is being sent to Garqi.”

  “Figures he’d be your choice.”

  “He wasn’t, actually, Kyp.” Luke smiled carefully. “That choice was taken away from me.”

  “What?”

  Corran’s mirth at Kyp’s surprise leaked out through the Force. “I used to fly with Rogue Squadron and resigned my commission there five years ago. That left me in the military reserve, and they just reactivated me.”

  Luke nodded. “Colonel Horn will lead a team of six commandos and two civilian observers into Garqi to study the Yuuzhan Vong, coordinate with any resistance movement, and set up operations to try to get people off the world.”

  Ganner rested his fists on his hips. “A half-dozen commandos against a planet full of Yuuzhan Vong?”

  “They’re Noghri, Ganner.” Corran shrugged. “Besides, I figured to tap you as one of my civilian observers. Figured you had to be the equal of another dozen Noghri, right?”

  Ganner’s harsh expression lightened. “Noghri. The mission has merit.”

  Corran looked out into the audience. “Jacen, I’ve talked with Master Skywalker, and he’s consented to having you be the other observer. Want the slot?”

  Luke could feel the different emotions warring inside Jacen, but grudging adherence to duty won out.

  The youth stood. “I’m, ah, honored to be asked. If you think I should go, Master, I’ll go.”

  “Good, Jacen, I knew I could count on you.” Luke clapped his hands once. “I’m in the process of preparing assignments for the rest of you. They should be ready by the end of the week. We’re only waiting on transport scheduling. I know that what you’re being asked to do may not be what you think needs to be done. You may think your skills are being wasted. I appreciate that, but these are the tasks that need doing.”

  Fury arced from Daeshara’cor. “Then this meeting was all a sham?”

  Luke frowned. “Not at all.”

  “But if you were preparing assignments, you had already made your mind up. You knew what you were going to tell us to do. You weren’t willing to think about being wrong.”

  “That’s not it at all. The orders could be changed easily. Had there been a convincing argument to show this course of action was wrong, I’d have changed them.” Luke held a hand out toward her. “Your effort was excellent, but lacked enough support to be convincing.”

  “And yet Kam’s counterargument lacked any evidentiary support at all. He argued that a complete lack of evidence to the contrary of my evidence was somehow evidence that my point was invalid.” She balled her hands into fists. “That is wrong and you are wrong. If we persist in this course, we will find the Yuuzhan Vong right here, on Coruscant. I know it. I can feel it.”

  “You may be right, Daeshara’cor. I hope you are not.” Luke’s expression hardened. “But if we follow your course, if we become warriors and go totally on the offensive, the Yuuzhan Vong being here would be the least of our worries.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “They would never make it.”

  “No, but in their place would be something worse.” Luke’s voice sank into a harsh whisper. “In their place we would have a hundred Darth Vaders, and that should fill all of you with more fear than anything we face now.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Jacen Solo sat alone in the Ralroost’s meditation cabin. Located in the aft of the Bothan Attack Cruiser, the room featured a tra
nsparisteel arch that provided a clear view of the light tunnel of hyperspace. Jacen had seen such lights all his life, so they were no longer remarkable to him; yet, even so, he found it hard to concentrate and focus his thoughts.

  The week just past had been a very full one, but it was not the packing and farewells, the briefing and training that weighed on him. All of those things he had done long before—though he did admit to himself that to be heading off into such grave danger made a big difference in what he said to his mother and father and even his little brother.

  “Thought I’d find you here.”

  Jacen turned and gave Jaina a smile. “Join me?”

  “Sure.” She appeared only as a silhouette in the cabin doorway. When it closed, returning the room to contemplative darkness, she floated forward like a ghost and seated herself next to him. “Emperor’s black bones, Jacen, you really can use some time meditating, can’t you? I don’t think I’ve ever felt you this agitated.”

  “Nor, apparently, ever found me this much out of control of my emotional broadcasting.”

  Jaina laughed, and Jacen luxuriated in the familiar sound. “We’re twins, Jacen. We had a head start on reading each other before we got to know anyone else. Still, you do seem to be leaking here a bit. What’s wrong?”

  “I’m not sure. I mean, I guess the enormity of what we’re doing has finally hit me.” He looked at his sister. “Mom and Dad had the Empire to fight, and that was very big and powerful. Well, the Yuuzhan Vong are our Empire, and at first scan, they’re more powerful than what Mom and Dad faced.”

  Jaina nodded. “Before, the Force has always tipped the scales in our favor. Here, we just have to be ourselves and do the best we can. Of course, I’ve got great examples to follow in doing that.”

  “Colonel Darklighter?”

  “Yes, him, the rest of the Rogues, General Antilles, Colonel Celchu. None of them have the Force, but they’re ace pilots. I mean, I have a hard time imagining life without the Force, and these guys are doing great things without relying on it.”