Shadow Academy

by Kevin J. Anderson

  Brakiss frowned, decided he must be imagining things, and turned back toward

  his office. But before he could get there, the door slammed shut of its own

  accord. Brakiss found himself trapped outside his office. Up and down the

  corridor the few open doors also sealed themselves. He heard clicking sounds

  as locking mechanisms engaged all around the station. Automatic alarms

  shrieked. Brakiss would not tolerate such an interruption in his routine.

  Someone would be punished for this. He held the storm inside himself and

  strode down the halls, intent on squashing the disturbance.

  Jacen, Jaina, and Lowie rushed into the docking bay, tense and ready to

  fight their way out of the Shadow Academy . A gleaming Imperial

  shuttle of unusual design sat in the middle of the brightly lit landing pad,

  still going through its shutdown procedures. Other TIE fighters and Skipray

  blastboats stood locked down and in various stages of maintenance. The

  alarms continued their deafening racket. Jacen saw movement in the shuttle

  and frantically gestured for the others to duck down, just in time to see

  two figures emerge from the entry ramp. One of the figures crouched and drew

  a lightsaber.

  "Uncle Luke!" Jaina cried, springing to her feet.

  The second figure, a fierce-looking girl, whirled, ready to attack. Her

  braided red-gold hair swept like a burst of flame across her gray eyes.

  "And Tenel Ka!" Jacen said. "Hey, am I glad to see you!"

  Lowie bellowed a delighted welcome.

  "Well, it certainly is a relief to see familiar faces in the midst of all

  this infernal racket," Em Teedee said.

  "All right, kids," Luke Skywalker said, "we came to rescue you - but since

  you managed to get yourselves this far, I guess we're ready to go. Right

  now."

  Jaina issued a brisk report. "We managed to shut down the cloaking device,

  Uncle Luke. Sealed most of the doors on the station. Won't be many people

  coming after us, but we should get out of here as soon as we can."

  "How will we get the sealed space doors open again?" Tenel Ka said, looking

  over her broad shoulders. "It will be difficult to open them without help

  from someone inside. Is this not a fact?"

  Lowie answered her with an extended series of growls and snorts. He waved

  his lanky arms.

  Em Teedee, his chrome back plate still rattling loose behind him, scolded,

  "No, you cannot do it yourself, Lowbacca. You're getting delusions of

  grandeur again. It was I who helped bring down the Shadow Academy 's

  defenses and ... oh-oh dear, what have I done?"

  "Maybe I can help," Jaina said. "Let's get into the shuttle cockpit. We'll

  try it from there."

  Up in the control center for the docking bay, Qorl stood amazed as the

  unexpected alarms continued. He watched the three young Jedi Knights rush

  into the large room below. The Shadow Chaser had just returned from a supply

  run to Dathomir, and a sandy-haired man emerged with a tough-looking young

  lady. Qorl recognized her as one of the Jedi students who had worked on his

  crashed TIE fighter back in the jungle.

  As soon as the alarms sounded, Qorl knew that Jacen, Jaina, and Lowbacca

  were somehow behind the disturbance. The other Dark Jedi students were

  pleased to have an opportunity to increase their powers and appreciated

  their training; but Qorl had been certain these three would cause trouble -

  especially since Brakiss and Tamith Kai seemed determined to injure or kill

  them. Qorl had been gravely disturbed at the supposed duel to the death

  between the holographically disguised brother and sister. He also knew the

  dangerous testing routine with flying stones and knives had already been

  responsible for the deaths of half a dozen promising trainees. He didn't

  agree with Brakiss's tactics, but Qorl was just a pilot; no one listened to

  his point of view, no matter how certain he was. Yet Qorl served his Empire,

  and he had to do what he knew was right.

  He opened the comm channel and gruffly reported. "Master Brakiss, Tamith Kai

  - anyone who can hear me. The prisoners are attempting to escape. They are

  currently in the main docking bay. I believe they intend to steal the Shadow

  Chaser. All of my defenses are down because of computer failure. If you can

  offer assistance, please come to the main docking bay immediately."

  Tamith Kai's violet eyes snapped open, and she leaped from her hard,

  uncomfortable bunk at the first sound of alarm. She came instantly awake,

  her mind burning with demands to know what was going on. Someone was

  threatening the Shadow Academy . The Nightsister threw on her black

  cloak, which swirled around her with glittering silvery lines, like the

  trails of stars during a launch into hyperspace. She reached the door to her

  quarters, but it would not open. She pounded on it, punched the override

  controls, but the locking mechanisms remained engaged.

  "Let me out!" she snarled. Tamith Kai worked the controls once more, again

  with no success.

  Her rage built within her. Something was happening, something terrible - and

  she knew the three kidnapped trainees were behind it all! They had caused

  more trouble than they were worth. The Shadow Academy could find so

  many other willing trainees in all the worlds of the galaxy that regardless

  of the talent of these three, their potential for disaster was too great.

  She would destroy them once and for all, and then the Shadow Academy

  could settle back into its smooth, regular routine, with Tamith Kai

  dominating and Brakiss running the details. Then she could be happy again.

  Her fingers coiled, and a smoky black electricity curled between them.

  "Out!" she roared. "I must get out!" Tamith Kai slashed with both of her

  hands in an opening gesture as she cried her command. With an explosion of

  power, the doors bent backward, folding down in a burst of smoke and sparks

  from the sheared-off wiring in the controls. Then using her bare hands, she

  tore one of the heavy metal plates completely out of its tracks and tossed

  it with a loud _clonngg__!_ onto the floor. Tamith Kai stormed out, her eyes

  shimmering like violet lava. Qorl's message came over the hall comm systems,

  and Tamith Kai did not let her anger slacken for an instant. The docking

  bay. She strode forward at high speed.

  While Jacen, Jaina, and Lowie scrambled aboard the Shadow Chaser, Luke

  remained outside with Tenel Ka. He glanced back and shouted to the twins. "I

  need to know about this place. There's something familiar and . . . very

  wrong here."

  "Yes," Jaina said. "Uncle Luke, the person running the Shadow Academy

  is-"

  But Luke had become distracted-fascinated, really. He suddenly stood up

  straighter, his eyebrows drawing together. "Wait," he said. "I sense

  something. A presence I haven't felt in a long time." He walked slowly

  across the bay and drew his lightsaber again, feeling a storm in the Force,

  a deadly conflict. As if in a trance, Luke strode toward one of the sealed

  red doors that led deeper into the academy station.

  "Hey, Uncle Luke!" Jacen cried, but Luke held up a hand for the boy to

  wait.

>   They needed to escape soon - it was their only chance. They had to seize the

  moment. But Luke also had to see, had to know. Behind him, he heard the

  weapons systems of the Shadow Chaser powering up. The ship's external laser

  cannon turrets raised and locked into firing position. When the red door

  slid open ahead of him, Luke Skywalker stood transfixed. He stared at the

  sculpture-handsome face of his former student.

  "Brakiss!" he whispered in a voice that carried across the docking bay, even

  above the chaos of shrieking alarms.

  Brakiss stood where he was with a faint smile. "Ah, Master Skywalker. So

  good of you to come. I thought I sensed you here on my station. Are you

  impressed at how well I have done for myself?"

  Luke held his lightsaber out in front of him, but Brakiss remained outside

  in the corridor and did not step across the threshold.

  "Oh, come now," Brakiss said with a dismissive "if you intended to kill me,

  you should have wave, done it when I was a weak trainee. You knew I was an

  Imperial agent even then."

  "I wanted to give you the chance to save your self," Luke said.

  "Always the optimist," Brakiss replied in an airy tone.

  Luke felt cold inside. He didn't want to fight Brakiss, especially not now.

  They had little time. But didn't he have to confront his former student

  somehow - resolve their conflict? They had to go now. He needed to escape

  with the kids before the Shadow Academy managed to get its defenses

  back on-line again.

  Brakiss held out his soft, empty hands. "Come and get me, Master Skywalker -

  or are you a coward? Would your precious light side allow you to attack an

  unarmed man?"

  "The Force is my ally, Brakiss,'' Luke said. "And you have learned to use it

  to your own ends. You are never unarmed, any more than I am."

  "All right, have it your way," Brakiss said. He brushed the fabric of his

  shimmering robe and made ready to step forward. His eyes blazed now, as if

  he held the fury of the universe within him, ready to unleash it from his

  fingertips.

  Just then, an explosion of hot energy streaked past Luke's head from behind

  and melted the door controls. With a second blast from the Shadow Chaser's

  laser cannon, the controls were completely fried. The heavy metal plates

  slammed back into place, sealing Brakiss and Luke apart from each other.

  "Uncle Luke, come on!" Jaina yelled from the ship. "We have to go!''

  Luke shuddered with stunned relief, turned, and sprinted back toward the

  shuttle. He knew it wasn't over between him and Brakiss; but that would have

  to wait for another time.

  Jaina and Lowie and Em Teedee linked into the Shadow Chaser's computers,

  trying to open the station's huge space door from within. While they worked,

  Tenel Ka raced around the docking bay, sealing all of the red doorways,

  making sure that none would open. The ominous man in the silvery robes had

  stalled Luke, and they couldn't afford another skirmish like that. Tenel Ka

  had to seal the doors, just in case a contingent of stormtroopers made its

  way to the docking bay.

  Luke climbed into the shuttle. Tenel Ka sealed another metal door, then ran

  to the last one. Just as her fingers touched the controls, though, the door

  slid open. A tall, dark woman loomed in front of Tenel Ka, crackling with

  angry energy and ready to attack. Tenel Ka looked up and instantly knew what

  this person was. "A Nightsister!" she hissed.

  The dark woman glared down at her with a similar flash of recognition. "And

  you are from Dathomir, girl! I claim you. You are a fitting replacement for

  the three I am about to destroy."

  Tenel Ka stood in front of the Nightsister, her arms and legs spread like a

  barrier. "You will have to get through me first."

  The dark woman laughed. "If you insist." She struck with the Force, an

  invisible blow that nearly knocked Tenel Ka sideways - but the young woman

  deflected it and stood strong, lips clamping together in determination. The

  Nightsister drew herself taller in surprise, looking like a black bird of

  prey. "Ah, so you are already familiar with the Force. That will make it

  easier for me to train you, to turn you."

  Tenel Ka remained tense and rigid, glaring at her opponent. "This is not a

  fact. And I will not let you harm my friends."

  The Nightsister seemed to snap as her anger came free of its delicate cage.

  "Then I won't hesitate to destroy you as well!" Her black robes rippled like

  a thunderstorm. Locking her violet gaze on Tenel Ka, she raised her clawed

  hands, fingers outspread, glossy dark hair crackling with static as her body

  charged with electrical power.

  Tenel Ka stood directly in front of her, unflinching, as the dark Force

  built to a climax within the Nightsister. Without warning, Tenel Ka lashed

  out with her foot, putting all of the strength of her muscular, athletic

  legs behind the kick. The sharp toe of her hard, scaled boot struck the

  Nightsister's unarmored kneecap.

  Tenel Ka distinctly heard the crunch of a breaking bone and tearing muscles

  as her blow struck home. The Nightsister shrieked and fell to the ground,

  writhing in agony.

  Calm and self-satisfied, Tenel Ka stared down at her with cool gray eyes. "I

  never use the Force unless I have to," she said. "Sometimes old-fashioned

  methods are just as effective." Leaving the Nightsister moaning on the

  floor, Tenel Ka jogged back toward the Shadow Chaser, where Luke was

  gesturing for her to hurry. She climbed aboard, and the ship doors sealed.

  Alarms continued to sound, their clamor muffled inside the cockpit of the

  Shadow Chaser. Luke piloted the vehicle, raising it off the floor on its

  repulsorfields. Jaina and Lowie still worked desperately to open the heavy

  space doors. With a loud crrummp, two sets of the red metal doors blasted

  open. Smoke from detonators curled out, and white-armored stormtroopers

  charged in, blasting at the shuttle.

  "You'd better get that space door open," Luke said. "Soon."

  Lowie yowled. "We're trying!" Jaina said, keying in a new command string,

  working even more furiously. More stormtroopers came through. Blaster fire

  sprayed across the room. They could hear the splatter and boom of impacts.

  But the Shadow Chaser's armor held.

  "We've got company," Luke said, staring at the sealed bay doors. "We're out

  of time."

  "I can't get the-" Jaina began, and suddenly the heavy doors cracked open,

  spreading wide for the Shadow Chaser. The atmosphere-containment field

  shimmered in front of the star-strewn blackness, but now the shuttle could

  launch into open space.

  "Well, what are we waiting for?" Jaina said, trying to cover her confusion.

  "Let's go!" Luke shouted, and punched the accelerators.

  Everyone grabbed the arms of their seats as the launch threw them back. The

  Shadow Chaser roared away from the Imperial station, leaving the huge,

  spiked structure uncloaked in space behind them.

  Luke heaved a loud sigh of relief as he punched the escape coordinates into

  the navicomputer. "Let's get back to Yavin 4," he said. None of the young

  Jedi Knights obje
cted, and they surged into hyperspace. "Good work, Jaina

  and Lowie," Luke finally said. "I didn't think you'd ever get that docking

  bay door open."

  Lowbacca mumbled something unintelligible, and Jaina fidgeted. "Uh, Uncle

  Luke," she said, "I kind of hate to mention this, but - we didn't get the

  door open."

  Luke shrugged, not wanting to quibble. "Well, we owe our thanks to whoever

  did it."

  Qorl stood by the docking-bay controls, watching the Shadow Chaser

  disappear. The escape left absolute turmoil in its wake as the Shadow

  Academy scrambled to regroup. Qorl touched the space door controls, smiled

  faintly to himself, and then closed the doors. He would, of course, never

  tell Brakiss or Tamith Kai.

  Brakiss came into the control room next to Qorl, exhausted and troubled. "Is

  our cloaking shield up yet? We must get it working. The Rebels will no doubt

  send attack fleets in search of us. We'll have to relocate. That's why this

  station was designed to be mobile."

  Brakiss drummed his finger-tips on one of the control panels. "I don't know

  what I'm going to say to our great Imperial leader. He can trigger its

  self-destruct sequence at any time, if this station he's displeased."

  Qorl nodded grimly. "Perhaps he won't be quite that displeased . . .this

  time."

  Brakiss looked at him. "We can only hope."

  Tamith Kai limped into the control chamber, utterly outraged. Her eyes still

  glowed with violet fire, and her hands were set in clawed curves, as if she