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Darkest Knight

Page 11

by Kevin J. Anderson


  Tamith Kai crossed her arms over her reptile-armored chest. "The noise

  level out there is most annoying," she said, then glared at the

  stormtrooper standing guard.

  Her violet eyes flashed with a twisted idea.

  "Why don't we trigger the locking mechanism and let the Wookiees stumble

  inside. We can easily take care of the whole lot before they recover

  from their surprise."

  Vonnda Ra chuckled. "That would be amusing to watch."

  Before Zekk could voice an indignant protest that he was in command of

  this mission, the stormtrooper activated the door controls.

  The panel suddenly slid aside, shocking the Wookiee engineers who had

  been working to gain access. They howled.

  The stormtrooper used his blaster rifle to mow them down in a few

  seconds, every one of them. Even encased in white armor, the

  stormtrooper's body language showed his pleasure.

  He keyed in the sequence to slam the heavy door shut again, leaving the

  fallen Wookiees out in the corridor.

  "At last, peace and quiet," Tamith Kai said.

  Overhead, TIE fighters and bombers continued to attack, dodging bursts

  of weapon fire from the tree facility's perimeter defenses. The

  reinforced dome overhead showed the battle in the skies. Several

  contingents of stormtrooper reinforcements had already landed.

  Vonnda Ra worked at one of the computer stations, scanning security

  images. A minute later, she gave a gasp of surprised triumph.

  'Ah, I believe I've found them," she said. "The vermin were firing the

  perimeter guns, but now they're in the corridors. They seem to be making

  their way . . . ah! They're making their way here. Delusions of

  grandeur. That could prove quite convenient."

  "Who?" Zekk said.

  Vonnda Ra raised her eyebrows. "Why, those Jedi brats, of course. Had

  you forgotten your other goal for this mission?"

  Zekk thought of Jacen and Jaina and their friends. "No, I didn't

  forget," he said. But he didn't want to confront the twins here, not in

  front of the evil Tamith Kai. This should have been his own private

  battle, the consequences of the choices he had made. "We'll meet them on

  the way. Ambush them. Lock down their location."

  "Simple enough," Vonnda Ra said.

  Reinforcing his position of command, Zekk turned sharply and issued

  brisk orders.

  "Tamith Kai, you will remain here and continue organizing the mission.

  Our primary goal is to get those computer systems for the Second

  Imperium. You-" he nodded toward the stormtrooper "-will stay here as

  guard.

  Vonnda Ra and I will take care of the young Jedi Knights."

  Tamith Kai scowled at being ordered about, but Zekk rounded on her, his

  cape swirling.

  "Is that assignment beyond your capabilities, Taniith Kai?"

  "Indeed not," she said. 'Is yours? Just be certain you eliminate those

  brats."

  @en the stormtrooper unsealed the armored door again, Vonnda Ra followed

  Zekk, and they strode out into the corridor, stepping around motionless

  Wookiee engineers sprawled on the floor, heading toward a confrontation

  with ZekiCs former friends.

  Jacen rushed along, shoulder to shoulder with Lowie and Sirra. The

  interior corridors were full of smoke, debris, and noise. Glowpanels in

  the ceilings flickered off and on with energy fluctuations from the

  attack.

  Jacen and Lowie drew their shimmering lightsabers and held them ready.

  Tenel Ka picked up a loose metal rod, a piece of destroyed pipe that had

  fallen from an overhead assembly, and loped along behind them, guarding

  the rear. She held the rod like a spear, as if hoping to find some enemy

  target.

  Lowie and Sirra turned the corner in the corridor, and Jacen thought he

  recognized the route they had taken to the monolithic control tower

  during their visit with the Tour Droid. Suddenly, Lowie gave a surprised

  roar; Sirra bellowed in alarm. Tenel Ka brandished her long metal rod.

  "Hey, it's Zekk!" Jacen shouted, skidding to a stop.

  There in the corridor, as if waiting for them, stood the dark-haired

  scamp who for years had been a friend to Jacen and Jaina . . . who had

  taken them on excursions through Coruscant's abandoned building levels

  and dim alleys. Now the once-scruffy boy wore expensive leather arinor

  and a crimson-lined black cape-and bore a scarlet-bladed lightsaber. He

  looked ominous. .

  Tenel Ka saw Zekk, too, and held her metal staff at the ready. In a

  flash of memory, Jacen thought of the warrior girl's initial meeting

  with Zekk, back on Coruscant: when the young man had dropped down from

  above to surprise them, Tenel Ka had whipped out her fibercord with

  blurring speed and lassoed him before he could jump out of the way.

  Now, though, Tenel Ka had only one hand, and she did not choose to drop

  her long steel rod to grab for her rope, or her lightsaber.

  For a moment Zekk's face seemed to open.

  His eyes grew round and uncertain. "Jacen," he said, "I-" Tenel Ka

  glared at the Nightsister and spoke in a low, threatening voice, "I have

  your name, Vonnda Ra. I saw you try to lure others from the Singing

  Mountain Clan on Dathomir. In your encampment at the Great Canyon you

  chose me as a trainee for the Shadow Academy, but instead we rescued my

  friends-and defeated you utterly. We'll defeat you again."

  The muscular Nightsister held up her clawlike hands. "Not this time,

  Jedi brats!" she said. "I shall enjoy destroying you."

  Jacen felt her dark power crackle through the air, and he held his

  lightsaber high in defense. Fire-blue lightning bolts danced at Vonnda

  Ra's fingertips, burning through her body and sizzling behind her eyes.

  She flicked her wrists to hurl her dark lightning at them-but Zekk

  shouldered the Nightsister to one side. The bolts of evil force flared

  past them like shadowy flames and scorched the wall plates.

  Vonnda Ra glared at Zekk, but he snapped, "They are mine to deal with! I

  am in command here."

  With a thundering sound of booted feet, a contingent of Imperial

  fighters charged down the corridor. Jacen looked up in alarm.

  Reinforcements had arrived-far more than he could hope to fight with his

  lightsaber, even with the help of Lowbacca, Sirra, and Tenel Ka.

  Stormtroopers must have landed on the upper platforms, Jacen surmised.

  The Second Imperium apparently wanted something here at the fabrication

  facility. Judging from the alarms and explosions, the Imperials had

  already overrun most of the platforms.

  Zekk stood waiting to battle the Jedi trainees, as if gathering up his

  courage and his anger, while the rebuffed Nightsister seethed with dark

  fury. The stormtroopers drew their weapons.

  Jacen knew with sudden certainty tlzcxt, they could never win a

  face-to-face fight here.

  Tenel Ka pushed herself one step forward, brandishing her metal rod. "We

  must turn back," she said, darting a look at him over her shoulder.

  "Good idea," Jacen said, casting a glance behind him.

  "You, girl, are a traitor to Dathoniir!"Vonnda Ra spat, just as Tenel Ka

  hurled the l
ong pipe in her direction. The rod struck the Nightsister,

  knocking her sideways. Stormtroopers clattered toward them as Lowie and

  Sirra turned to charge back down the corridor.

  "After them!" Zekk called, gesturing with one black-gloved hand.

  The stormtroopers thundered in pursuit.

  Vonnda Ra cast the pipe aside, Patches of it were bent and red-hot where

  fire from within her fingers had super-heated the metal.

  Sirra yelled something to her brother as they sprinted down the

  corridor, with Jacen and Tenel Ka right behind them. "Access hatch?" Em

  Teedee translated. "Escape? Yes, that sounds like an excellent idea. By

  all means , let us escape."

  At an intersection of corridors, Sirra stopped beside a clearly marked

  floor panel.

  Reaching her long fingers down, she hooked the tiny ring-handles. With

  her powerful muscles, she hauled upward, pulling the heavy hatch free to

  reveal a trapdoor. She growled and gestured.

  Without hesitation Lowie leaped into the hole, catching a strong vine

  that hung underneath. The tinny voice of the translating droid wailed,

  "But this leads to the underlevels of the forest! Master Lowbacca, we

  can't go down here. It's far too dangerous" Lowie merely grumbled and

  continued his descent. Tenel Ka followed next, hopping lightly over the

  edge, wrapping her muscular legs around a vine. Grasping it with her

  hand, she lowered herself into the darkness.

  Jacen turned around just in time to see Zekk and Vonnda Ra rushing

  toward them, flanked by stormtroopers. "Down into the underworld, huh?"

  Jacen said, glancing at Sirrakuk. "Looks like you'll get an early chance

  to complete that risky adventure of yours.

  Sirra growled her agreement. With that, both of them plunged over the

  lip of the trapdoor and descended into the murky, leafy depths below.

  Scrambling downward into the tangled foliage, Jacen looked up through

  the dense branches to see the silhouetted figures of Zekk and Vonnda Ra

  conferring at the edge of the glowing patch of light. Jacen could hear

  their voices faintly as he fled deeper into the thick forest.

  "We'll have to follow them," Zekk said.

  "You should have allowed me to destroy them when I had the chance," the

  Nightsister snapped. "Now they will cause difficulties."

  Zekk answered sharply. "I am in charge here. We'll do things my way." He

  turned and shouted to the stormtroopers. 'Down into the forests. All of

  you."

  Zekk, Vonnda Ra, and the stormtroopers plunged after their prey into the

  underworld of Kashyyyk. -----------------BRAKISS PACED THE corridors of

  the Shadow Academy, like an inspector general ensuring that his troops

  were prepared for imminent combat. He glided along with silent

  footsteps. His robes whispered around him.

  The Master of the Shadow Academy looked too clean, too handsome to be an

  ominous threat. And although command of the new Dark Jedi rested firmly

  in his hands, his mind was instead focused on resolving his own doubts.

  Brakiss allowed a flicker of anger-anger, the heart of dark side

  power-to flash through him. His right fist clenched . . .

  then he dismissed the emotion. He must not lose control, he told

  himself, for therein lay a greater weakness. Now he must be strong.

  Through his own work, he had created the armored space station as a Dark

  Jedi training center. He had done it all for the glory of his Great

  Leader, to help bring about the Second Imperium and restore the galaxy

  to order and firmpaternal control. He had done so much work, risked so

  many things. . . .

  And now the Emperor had snubbed him.

  Since the secret Imperial transport had arrived at the Shadow Academy

  and the four scarlet-cloaked Imperial guards had taken Palpatine's

  sealed isolation chamber off to a restricted section, Brakiss had

  neither seen nor spoken to the Emperor, despite his many requests for an

  audience. He had been so honored to learn that the Great Leader would

  visit. . . .

  But now Palpatine's presence threw all of his thoughts and plans into

  turmoil.

  Brakiss glided along the curved corridors.

  The lights had been dimmed for the sleep cycle; most of the Dark Jedi

  students had sealed themselves inside their quarters for the evening. A

  small shift of stormtroopers continued their patrol duties.

  Qorl had been successful in training new military recruits from the Lost

  Ones gang on Coruscant. The TIE pilot had paid particular attention to

  the burly Norys, who had a knack for Imperial enforcement

  techniques-though the insolence Norys showed gave Brakiss cause for

  concern. Still, only rarely did stormtrooper trainees show such . . .

  enthusiasm.

  As Brakiss drifted along the quiet corridors, he fleetingly wished he

  were wearing stormtrooper armor himself, so that his footsteps could

  make resounding, forceful clangs.

  But unfortunately, such a demonstration of pique would have been deemed

  unworthy of a Jedi superior.

  Brakiss was a powerful man-or so he had thought, until the Emperor's

  entourage arrived. The red guards seemed to consider him the lowliest of

  servants. This was an unfair dismissal of all he had accomplished, he

  told himself. Perhaps the Emperor truly was ill; perhaps the Second

  Imperium was in greater danger than Brakiss had feared. He decided it

  would be best to speak directly to Palpatine, to see for himself.

  He had been patient. He had been helpful.

  He had accommodated every whim passed along by the faceless Imperial

  guards-but now Brakiss needed answers.

  Brakiss took a deep breath to center himself, to focus his thoughts to a

  razor edge of calm resolve. Propelled by his growing confidence, he

  turned about and made his way toward the isolated chambers of the

  Emperor and his followers.

  Brakiss would not be turned away this time.

  The section reserved for the Emperor's group seemed even dimmer than the

  rest of the Shadow Academy. The light had been polarized somehow, so

  that it contained a reddish tinge that made it difficult to see.

  The ambient temperature felt colder.

  Two red guards stood posted at the intersection of the corridor. They

  towered over Brakiss as he approached, the folds of their scarlet robes

  gleaming in the reddish light as if they had been oiled. The guards

  carried force pikes, ominous-looking weapons that might simply be

  ornamental . . . but Brakiss did not want to test that theory.

  "No intruders are allowed," one of the red guards said.

  Brakiss stopped short. "I believe you are ill-informed. I am Brakiss,

  Master of the Shadow Academy."

  "We are aware of your identity. No intruders beyond this point."

  "I am not an intruder. This is my own station," he said, taking another

  bold step forward and trying to impart power to his words.

  One of the guards shifted his force pike.

  "This station belongs to the Emperor. He holds the right to claim

  ownership of everything he considers valuable to his Second Imperium."

  Following that thread of argument would do him no good, Brakiss decided.

 
"I must speak with the Emperor," he said.

  "That is impossible," the guard answered.

  "Nothing is impossible," Brakiss countered.

  "The Emperor sees no one."

  "Then let me speak to him over the comm.

  I'm certain he will wish to see me once he and I have had a brief

  discussion."

  "The Emperor has no desire for 'a brief discussion'-with you or anyone

  else."

  Brakiss placed his hands on his hips. "And when did the Emperor delegate

  the authority to speak for him"-he spoke the words scornfully-"to his

  mere guards? By what right did you become his mouthpiece? I do not

  recognize your authority, guard. How do I know you're not holding him

  hostage? How do I know that he isn't ill or drugged?"

  He crossed his arms over his robed chest. "I accept. orders only from

  the Emperor. Now let me speak to him immediately, or I shall call forth

  all of my troops on this station and arrest you for mutiny against the

  Second Imperium."

  The two red guards stood motionless. "It is unwise to threaten us," they

  said in unison.

  Brakiss didn't back down. "It is unwise to ignore me," he replied.

 

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