Recap

Unaware that Chala had joined the battle on the far side of the battlefield, Akrail proceeded to the cockpit of the
Theonide dropship. With the confusion of the battle outside, neither pilot noticed Akrail as he extended his
lightsaber hilt horizontally between them and flashed the blades on and off quickly. Both pilots were killed
instantly, and nobody outside the vessel had any idea what had just happened.

Zak, meanwhile, remained on the defensive, ducking and weaving between the Theonides who were unable to hit
him with any of their shots. Tull, on the other hand, took the opposite approach, pummelling one soldier after
another while ignoring the blasts of purple energy that ricocheted off his thick armour.

Akrail tried desperately to figure out the controls of the alien ship. He was not willing to put the neural helmet on,
so he was left to try to use the control panel, but had no luck. While he struggled with them, Chala snuck out from
her hiding place to the east and made her way south, into the ruins that had just hidden Zak and Tull. Meanwhile,
Evari tended to the wounded and sent them back through the hole in the far wall of their shelter, to meet up with
XL-310, the security droid they had picked up from the spaceport.

Zak, however, was not merely dodging, but actually hatching a very specific plan. He maneuvered again and
again, ducking and rolling until he had positioned himself right in the centre of a large group of Theonide soldiers.
Believing they had him trapped, they were completely unprepared for what happened next.

Trusting in the Force, Zak willed the Dark Side away and cleared his mind for one massive blast of Force Light,
figuring that if it worked on Mnggal, it might work on the Theonides as well, who were so in tune with the Dark
Side. His body began to glow and then suddenly a visible burst of blinding light exploded in all directions from
where Zak stood. Every Theonide within a 10 metre radius was instantly incinerated, wisps of dark energy fleeing
from their eyes, nose and mouth only to evaporate and disappear, leaving the evacuated bodies to fall withered to
the ground.

Akrail and Chala, who had been outside the blast zone were momentarily surprised. Tull, who had been within
the blast, shook his head and yelled suddenly to Zak, “What the HELL was that?!? Why didn’t you do that in the
Arena?”

Zak was winded, and began breathing heavily as he caught his breath. The Theonides who had been closing in
on his position had suddenly stopped outside the 10m radius, unsure what to do and unwilling to be incinerated
like their colleagues. When Zak and Tull finally took a step forward, the Theonides likewise backed up.

All except for two. Two massive, horned figures emerged from the rear ranks of the Theonide soldiers, advancing
boldly into the danger zone and facing down Zak and Tull. All others kept their distance and watched. Nobody
knew what to expect.

Then, in the rubble to the south, Chala was surprised by an attack from the two Force Hounds (as the group had
come to refer to them). She defended against one but was stunned by the other and her lightsaber glanced off
the feral attacker, doing no damage. She seemed to be in trouble … until Evari, who had sneaked up behind the
Ewok, decapitated one of the Hounds in a single blow, immediately putting the odds in the Padawans’ favour.

Aboard the transport, Akrail finally admitted defeat – he would not be able to pilot this ship or activate its weapons,
so he decided on a different plan. If he couldn’t move it, perhaps he could use it where it sat … as a giant bomb.
He headed aft, to where he expected the engineering station to be and though it all remained foreign to him, he
was rewarded with what appeared to be a control station. It would be slow going, but he set to work.

Outside, Zak and Tull engaged the two massive horned Theonides who had entered the radius of Zak’s Force
Light blast. While Zak’s blows were ineffective against his larger opponent, the Theonide was having no luck
injuring the more nimble Monk. Tull, however, hammered into his opponent like a battering ram, driving the
Theonide backwards in the process. Tull was clearly the better fighter here, but Zak quickly became aware that
Tull was so single-mindedly focused on his target that he was ignoring the shooters all around him. While the
arena might be like a second home to the Barabel, the battlefield was evidently foreign to him.

In the rubble to the south, Chala evaded and slashed at the remaining hound with her lightsaber, but to no avail.
The creature was faster than the large opponents Zak and Tull were facing, and it had dangerous claws, so Chala
was forced to keep her distance. Evari engaged as well, her own saber strikes keeping the creature at bay, and
slowly the two Padawans gained the advantage.
Suddenly, Zak landed a sequence of blows that knocked the large horned Theonide to the ground, and there was
a moment of stunned silence among the Theonide soldiers. Expecting the worst, Zak readied himself to move.
An instant later, the space around him was filled with criss-crossing beams of purple energy, but the Monk rolled
to safety, positioning himself next to one of the shooters.

At the same time, Tull’s opponent went down, his armour destroyed from a series of powerful blows that would
have ruined a lesser being. Tull looked at the soldiers to the south and their commander standing near the ship,
planning who to attack next.

With a coordinated effort, Chala drew their Force hound off balance, and Evari dealt the killing blow to this
attacker as well. With two Theonides at their feet, the pair of Padawans decided what do next. Chala sniffed the
air again, and was certain that Akrail was aboard the Theonide transport. She decided to sneak to the edge of the
rubble and drew her bow. Taking aim at one of the guards standing near the ship, she loosed an arrow straight
into the soldier’s exposed neck. He fell instantly, and nobody was aware of what the Ewok had just done.

Evari, meanwhile, sneaked back the way they’d come, putting herself into position to fire on Zak’s attackers with
her blaster rifle, if the need arose. And that need came sooner than expected, as Zak focused a burst of Force
Light onto his nearest attacker, causing the soldier to cry out as dark whisps of energy evaporated from his face.
But as the defeated soldier hit the ground, Zak took a serious hit from the other soldiers’ energy weapons, and he
collapsed to the ground, incapacitated.

Seeing the battle turning for the worse, the Theonide commander turned and boarded the transport, unaware of
Tress and the Ortolan girl hiding under the ramp. He ascended and turned to the cockpit, yelling something to his
pilots … but found that they had instead been killed. Instantly, he knew someone was aboard the transport, and
he drew his weapon and headed aft, looking for an intruder. Amidst the chaos of the battle, however, Akrail had
no idea he was the prey.

Outside, Chala saw the Theonide commander board the shuttle and knew she could help. She silently hustled to
the corpse of the soldier she’d shot with her bow, retrieved her arrow and made her way towards the transport’s
ramp, determined to help Akrail. She arrived as the Theonide commander was bearing down on Akrail, who was
cornered in the Engineering section of the ship. Chala leapt at the commander, her saber glancing off the
soldier’s armor. The massive alien turned to face his new attacker, but Chala was already rolling clear, ready to
re-engage.

In that moment, Akrail ignited his saber and decapitated the Theonide commander with a single stroke. Akrail
quickly finished his jury-rigged explosives, and then together, Akrail and Chala left the alien ship and regrouped
with Tress and the Ortolan child.

They arrived in time to see Zak go down from a Theonide weapon strike, while Tull continued to rip a hole in the
enemy’s defensive perimeter. It was clearly apparent why Tull was the reigning champion of the Dool Arena.

Zak stayed down, hurt but not out, trying not to draw any more attention to himself. Akrail and Chala joined Tull
on the battlefield, and it did not take them long to whittle down the remaining soldiers and clear a path back to the
hole in the wall through which Chala and Evari had arrived. Noting that the Theonides fought to the last man, they
realized that there would be no forcing a surrender from this enemy – they would need to be eliminated entirely
before their threat was truly gone.

The group passed through the hole in the wall and back into the streets, making their way East to where Corellia
waited aboard the stolen ship. As they encountered XL-310, the security droid along the way, an explosion tore
apart the block they’d just left. Akrail’s improvised explosives had detonated the Theonide vessel, leaving little no
trace of their presence.

When they reunited with Corellia and BB-9, Akrail was impressed to see the state of the ship. It was a ZH-40
Tribune Class Light Freighter – a later-generation model of the old Questor series he had always liked. This ship
could sell for quite a bit, if they ever found the need to unload it. For the moment, though, it would help get them
off this planet, and with any luck, they’d locate Chandra, the organic ship, in the process.

Character Points

At this point, everyone was given another 7 Character points, to top up the 8 they received previously, giving
everyone a full 15 CPs for the War on Reuss VIII.
Recap Continued

Evari’s health was getting progressively worse, and even Corellia was beginning to show more advanced signs of
illness. Akrail oversaw the final repairs to the ZH-40 and everyone got aboard and prepared to leave. The sky
was still criss-crossed with purple lines of light, and fires burned everywhere as the ground shook. Corrosive rain
and ash filled the air and everyone was more then happy to put this place behind them.

Akrail took to the skies, deciding first to see whether he could meet up with Greel and the group from the Broken
Tusk. They’d said they were going to Torel Vorne’s building, somewhere North of the Broken Tusk, so Akrail set
a course North. But they saw no sign of the Gamorreans or their entourage, and where they supposed Torel
Vorne’s building would be, they found nothing but heavy piles of rubble and fire. They were forced to assume that
the Gamorrean brothers were either dead, gone, or hidden so well that only a dedicated search on foot would
uncover them.

They had no time for such a search, however, as enemy ships took notice of their presence and close in. It was
time to leave.

Akrail pointed the ship East, towards the canyons, where they believed the organic ship had gone. But Theonide
starfighters were much faster than the ZH-40 freighter, and purple plasma blasts rained past on all sides as the
enemy opened fire.

Twisting the ship around, Akrail put it though some evasive maneuvers, while Zak manipulated the shields to point
them towards the aft. The freighter had only a single front-facing laser cannon, so there was no way to fire on
their pursuers unless they could somehow put them in front.

The starfighters closed the distance to the ZH-40 freighter quickly, so Akrail took advantage of their momentum,
throwing his own ship into a hard braking maneuver which saw the Theonides overshoot the mark, and go soaring
out in front of the freighter. Chala’s cannon blasts hit nothing but sky, but the starfighters were forced to loop
around and circle back on the freighter, while Akrail poured every ounce of power into the engines, pushing hard
for the canyons.

Soon, the freighter punched through a gap in the starfighters’ formation, putting the attackers to the ZH-40’s rear
once again, as more ships joined the chase.

Far below, the ruins of the city stretched in all directions, burning as far as the eye could see. Above, a pair of
Theonide cruisers tracked the freighter’s vector, but held off from adding their own fire to the mix, lest they hit their
own starfighters.

Akrail’s dance with the Theonide starfighters continued back and forth, neither side ever truly scoring a serious hit,
when suddenly the city disappeared below, replaced by a barren stretch of dull grey rock which quickly dropped
away into zig-zagging canyons etched into the ground. Somewhere, they knew, the organic ship was hiding in
those canyons.

Outnumbered and outgunned, Akrail decided to use the terrain to his advantage, diving the ship’s nose towards
the nearest canyon and squeezing the freighter into the narrow tunnels carved into the ground. The walls towered
over them on both sides, and Akrail put the ship through a series of hair-raising maneuvers as he guided it in and
around the rocks. Only a few of the ships were willing to follow the freighter into the winding rocky hallways, while
the rest tracked the ZH-40’s progress from above.

Purple plasma seared past, shattering rock and sending dust and debris flying into the air. This gave the crew an
idea, and as Akrail skimmed through a narrow gap in the canyons, Zak and Chala pooled their collective Force
energies enough to pull the rocks down from the walls, crashing into the ships chasing them, and creating a
chaotic mess of fire, smoke and rocks that obscured their position momentarily.

In that instant, Akrail cut power to the ship’s engines, retaining only the barest of power for the ship’s maneuvering
thrusters as he brought the ZH-40 in for a hard landing, skidding to a halt under an overhang and letting the rocks
and dust settle around them, obscuring their position. For what seemed like an eternity, the crew sat in complete
silence as Theonide patrols ran search patterns far above, but never managed to locate the crashed ZH-40.

After just repairing the ship from its first crash-landing, it seemed there’d be more repairs already.
Finally, after waiting for 15 minutes or so, the search patterns seemed to be called off. Everyone cautiously
disembarked from the crashed ship while trying to figure out how to locate Akrail’s organic vessel, Chandra, in this
mess. Tull had no interest in helping, and stayed where he was on the freighter. “Not his war”, he claimed.

Chala, on the other hand, had a brilliant idea. She climbed to the top of one of the nearby rock spires and
scanned the horizon. She couldn’t see much, but she sniffed around to build a “scent map” for herself, and
quickly confirmed the presence of more Theonide ground troops to the North East.

She descended to report her findings to her friends, and they decided Akrail, Zak and Chala would continue on
foot, into the canyons, to track down Chandra. Evari was quite ill now, so she remained behind with Corellia while
BB-9 effected even more repairs to the downed vessel. Akrail set the ship to pre-calculate a jump path (as best
as it could under the circumstances) to Starlyte Station, the place where Greel suspected the Dark Plague might
have originated.

Then, the trio of Akrail, Zak and Chala set off on their hike into the canyons to hopefully locate the organic ship
and leave this planet once and for all. They trekked north of the crash site, following Chala’s nose through the
winding canyons. Finally, they came upon a Theonide search party up ahead -- a group of soldiers being led by
another of the massive, horned commanders.

While Zak snuck ahead, Akrail hung back and out of sight, and Chala again ascended the rock towers to get a
look from above. Zak successfully brought down two soldiers silently before he was spotted by the rest of the
patrol. Akrail was quick to join the Monk as the large commander closed on their position.

Together, the pair dispatched the entire search party as Chala reached the peak of the cliff face.

On the far side, she saw another Theonide landing craft and another dozen or more soldiers in the valley. She
could smell even more in the surrounding hills, and she knew that to attempt a straightforward approach through
the valley would be suicidal. Instead, she took to the high ground, moving from peak to peak as she scouted the
area alone from the safety of the rocks. It was not so different from hunting in the high trees of her home on
Endor.

Zak, meanwhile, continued to move ahead through the valley, with Akrail behind him. It wasn’t long before they
found another search party, but they decided not to engage this one. Instead, upon learning that Chala had
spotted a cave that might hide the ship, Akrail and Zak fell back and started to climb as the Ewok had.

Instead of waiting, Chala took the initiative and scaled down the rocky face to the ground, eager to explore the
cave she’d located. But she inadvertently stumbled into another search party on the far side of the valley, who
were surprised (and confused) by the arrival of an Ewok in the middle of the desert.

As the Theonides gave chase, Chala ducked in and out of the rocky debris, using her small size to her advantage
and ultimately managing to hide from her pursuers. But in her run, she realized that someone else was part of the
search parties … Zarra was here, and she did not look happy.

As Akrail crested the hill and noticed the Imperial, he worried that she might sense his presence, and indeed she
did seem to have picked up on something. But it was Chala that drew Zarra’s attention, and for the moment,
Akrail and Zak went unnoticed. While Akrail decided how to handle the Imperial Inquestor, Zak began a slow
lateral climb around the southern wall of the valley, hoping to flank Zarra’s group of soldiers while Akrail
approached head on.

When everyone was in position, Akrail climbed atop the ravine wall and raised his saber high, declaring his
presence and calling Zarra out. The Sith woman took the bait and leapt up out of the canyon, igniting her blade
and meeting the Chiss Jedi atop his perch.

Meanwhile, Zak descended the valley wall to the south, intent on taking out the remnants of Zarra’s search party
while they were busy watching the lightsaber duel on the wall. Zak successfully took down the first soldier, but
accidentally drew too much attention to himself and very soon the rest of the search party had turned their
attention to the already wounded Monk. Zak went defensive, ducking and dodging around his much larger
opponents, but it quickly became obvious that he was in serious trouble. He took a few hits, nothing serious, but
with each blow he lost ground.

Chala watched Zak struggle to keep his feet, but rather than help him, the Ewok bypassed the battle entirely and
entered the cave herself. Inside, she picked through the darkness and found Chandra, the organic ship they’d
come here to get. It was dormant, but quickly awoke at the young Padawan’s Force presence. Immediately
detecting that Akrail was also nearby, the ship began to power up fully and the Ewok climbed aboard.

On the ridge, Akrail and Zarra exchanged blows, and it was the first time Akrail found himself facing an opponent
who truly endangered him. Zarra was skilled in the use of her twin blades, and Akrail was forced back down the
side of the hill several times. But he rallied well, turning his defense to his advantage and driving Zarra back as
many times as she did to him. Their lethal dance continued, and Zarra screamed at Akrail about how he had
killed her brother on Endor.

Akrail let her anger wash off him -- it was all he could to do block out the darkness of the Theonides, he did not
have the mental energy to banter with the Sith. Blow after blow, sparks showered with every impact and the two
warriors continued to push for the better position. Akrail knew he would not defeat Zarra here … not truly, but his
goal was merely to distract and delay. He had sensed Chandra powering up, and he knew it wouldn’t be long
now.

Moments later, the organic ship burst from the cave, Chala at the controls, chattering excitedly in Ewokese. The
Theonide soldiers attacking Zak had only seconds to register what was happening before the ship’s guns reduced
the soldiers to ash in the desert. Chala lowered the ship enough for Zak to scamper up the ramp, and then
continued towards the valley wall where Akrail was locked in mortal combat with Zarra.

As Akrail saw the ship rise above the crest of the ridge, he made one last maneuver, driving Zarra backwards and
making her lose her footing. She stumbled and toppled down the slope, rolling to a dusty halt at the bottom of the
valley wall. Akrail drew on the Force and leapt into the air, landing neatly in Chandra’s open landing ramp, and
Chala sealed the ship behind him.

Zarra could only watch in fury as the ship ascended into the sky and pulled away.

Akrail took over the pilot controls, with Chala as his co-pilot. Everyone congratulated the Ewok on her ingenuity in
the field, and Akrail radioed Corellia to say that it was time to go. Corellia did not sound good … her health had
deteriorated considerably, and Evari was already unconscious. But with the help of BB-9, they managed to get
the ship into the air and joined Chandra as they pushed for space.

A few Theonide starfighters gave helpless pursuit, and Akrail’s pre-programmed coordinates meant they were
able to jump almost as soon as they broke atmosphere. Stars gave way to starlines, and the crew were finally
safe.
Introduction

Watching as the ship leapt to hyperspace, Lady Vindia remained in the neural feed long enough for after-battle
reports to scroll across her terminal. She was dismayed at losing the ship, certainly, and Valkedd would be too ...
but the ship's importance was becoming less of an issue as the war progressed. The Dominion was still well on
it's way to spreading the Masters' will, and there was still time to recover the vessel. That part could wait.

Into the neural network, she thought the command to track them, and instantly her orders were executed. Then,
she instructed her forces to retrieve ground forces and bombard the surface until nothing remained.

Her orders were immediately processed and put into action. Already, she could track ground forces withdrawing
to their transports, while at the same time she sensed Zarra's anger through the Essence. The former Imperial
was a blunt instrument, but a valuable one nonetheless, and she was not an asset to be wasted. She, too, was
returning to her shuttle with her soldiers, seething the entire time.

Valkedd would make use of her anger.

The ship could wait and its pilots were, in the big picture, of little importance. It was the other one, the soldier, that
Valkedd had foreseen as essential.

Lady Vindia felt the rumble of her ship's lasers raining death indiscriminately onto the planet below, and less than
half a cycle later, the world of Reuss VIII was dead.

-//-

An explosion tore the building apart around him, and Fenn could feel the heat of the blast as its fury engulfed him.
But armoured as he was, both physically and through the Force, he was able to push the heat and debris away
from himself and the soldiers standing behind him.

His Commandos had long since become accustomed to their General doing the impossible on the battlefield, and
Fenn wondered whether this was how the Jedi had felt during the Clone Wars centuries ago. Not that Fenn
necessarily considered himself a Jedi anymore ... he'd parted ways with the Order long ago when he'd realized
his path was not that of a mystic but that of a soldier. His Father had been a military pilot and Fenn had started
down the same route as soon as he'd been old enough to enlist. When the Empire destroyed his home in a false
bid to mine his homeworld of Scarlenia, he'd quickly sided with the Rebel Alliance and he'd been a soldier almost
non-stop ever since.

But that had been several lifetimes ago, and his days often felt like one war after another. He wondered whether
it all meant anything ... whether his efforts had really made a difference. And now, facing yet another defeat at the
hands of the Theonide Dominion, he began to wonder whether this would be the end of it all.

If so, he’d not make it easy for them.

"Fall back!" He yelled to his soldiers over the chaos. The planet of Kallast had been a peaceful agricultural world,
but where once fields of wheat swayed in the gentle breeze, now a raging lake of fire whipped sideways in gale
force winds. The Chiss-Alliance had come initially to help when the plague had wiped vast numbers from the
population, but so far the Alliance had no cure and Fenn remained incapable of healing the illness with the Force.
As spears of purple energy lanced past on all sides, Fenn spun his lightsaber in a shielding pattern, swatting
blasts away and protecting his troops. The constant whispers of the Dark Side pulled at his mind but he pushed
them back as his body fell into the familiar defensive forms of the Soresu style. Around him, some of his soldiers
fell; he saved who he could, but the enemy was simply too numerous.

The evacuation transport lay several blocks behind them, and it spat red streaks of cannon fire over Fenn’s head
and into the Theonide ranks, but even that did little to thin the enemy’s numbers. The giant black-clad aliens
marched inexorably forward, undeterred by the attrition to their own numbers as the Alliance weapons found weak
points in their armour.

From this distance, Fenn could do little but protect his soldiers, and he wondered how many would remain when
they finally reached the shuttle. If they reached the shuttle.

Falling back as ordered, the

Commandos retreated around
and behind the debris of fallen
buildings, using it for cover as
they weaved a path to the
transport. An explosion
erupted nearby, shaking the
already fragile buildings and a
cloud of dust washed over
them as another building fell.
Fenn and his soldiers skidded
to a halt to avoid getting
crushed. The dust cloud had
bought them a brief reprieve
as the Theonide weapons went silent in the fog. Fenn deactivated his saber, extinguishing its light, and spoke
into his comlink.

“Brackman to transport. Reroute to secondary evacuation site,” Then, motioning to the soldiers around him, the
squad slipped laterally down a side street, past another fallen building, and deeper into the city. They were
cutting a path that would lead them further from the transport, but he hoped they’d received his order to relocate
and would pick them up at the new exfiltration location.

They made it another three blocks before the dust had cleared enough for the enemy to pick up their position.
They’d made progress, but not enough, and before long the enemy’s weapons had opened fire again. Fenn re-
ignited his saber and fell into a defensive posture again, covering the men and women of his team as they
scrambled over rocks and debris to get to the transport. Another soldier fell, another life extinguished from the
Force. Fenn tried to remain focused on his attackers, as more and more of them appeared from around buildings
and fallen debris.

They just kept coming. Five, then ten, then twenty, then fifty. Far too many to stand and face, and Fenn started
to seriously doubt their chances of success.

A blast of energy slipped past his guard, ricocheting off his armour and leaving another black smoldering stain on
its surface. Dropping to one knee, Fenn grunted but kept his saber up, weaving a defensive web in front of him
while his soldiers retreated.

An explosion blew rocks into his face, which he ducked away from, but still the enemy fire continued. At this rate,
Fenn wondered whether this might finally be the end.

But then suddenly, the shooting stopped. The wind picked up, blowing dust across the battlefield, and Fenn
shielded his eyes with his free arm. The hum of his lightsaber was the only sound echoing eerily into the new
silence. Squinting, he looked cautiously into the haze and could make out the shadows of Theonide soldiers
withdrawing, pulling back and leaving the battlefield.

“What happened?” a soldier asked nobody in particular.

“I don’t know,” another replied.

“Nothing good,” Fenn said grimly. “They’re leaving for a reason. Time to go.”
They turned and hurried as one, under the fallen debris of an old agricultural grain silo and over the remains of
what had once been a bell tower. A block away there was a church square, an open space large enough to land
a ship, and Fenn was relieved to see their transport waiting for them.

“Go, go, go!” he yelled, motioning the commandos forward while watching behind them, lightsaber ever at the
ready. The soldiers ran across the open square, heads down, and Fenn watched as the first handful climbed
aboard the evacuation transport. They might just make it after all.

Then, suddenly, a massive earthquake rippled through the ground, shaking everything in the region and throwing
rocks and debris into the air. Fenn lowered his centre of gravity to keep his balance, looking around to see how
his team was doing. A few had fallen, but everyone resumed their run.

“What the --?”

“Run!” Fenn yelled.

Then another quake followed, this one stronger, closer. Fenn dropped to the ground again, landing flat on his
back as he looked up into the sky. As Theonide starfighters criss-crossed high above, Fenn could make out the
enormous shapes of three bell-shaped capital ships, hovering on the outskirts of the battlefield and moving slowly
this way.

A city-sized glow of purple energy

blossomed from the bottom of the
furthest vessel, threatening the
surface with terrible potential
before erupting like an upside-
down volcano, spitting a swath of
devastation across the landscape.
A third earthquake followed the
impact, and Fenn was bucked off
the ground as the rocks
threatened to give way beneath
him. Buildings began to crumble
and rain down into the streets; a
deafening soundwave washed
over them.

Fenn continued yelling, but the

cacophony of noise made certain
that nobody heard anything he
said. Rising to his feet, he ran for
the transport, which had been
forced to hover a couple metres
above the ground to avoid being
pulled into the earth as it opened
up. The ship that had just fired
now looked to be drawing material
upwards into the same aperture
that had just fired, incinerating
everything in a furnace of
incalculable heat.

Standing near the transport and

guiding the last few soldiers
aboard, Fenn was buffeted by
winds and heat unlike anything
he’d ever felt. An enormous
shadow fell across the city square and Fenn looked up to see one of the ships positioning itself above them, its
giant glowing aperture staring down at them like some malevolent eye of death. As the last soldier boarded, Fenn
leapt up and into the cabin as the pilot threw the ship forward and pushed for the edge of the city. Far above, the
massive eye glowed hot, purple light crackling across the entire surface, ready to belch purple fire down onto the
city.

The air felt suddenly alive with the crackle of energy as the weapon finally unleashed its destructive power. A
concussive boom louder than anything Fenn had ever heard reverberated from the massive column of energy that
lay waste to the entire city nearly all at once. The devastation was colossal -- entire city blocks were vaporized in
less than a second, and in the blink of an eye, the city was gone.

The transport just managed to clear the blast zone, but now a wave of superheated air bucked the ship, kicking it
up like an angry ronto. The soldiers slapped the doors shut in an attempt to keep out the hot air, but the cabin still
simmered like an oven. The walls and floor felt hot to the touch, and the transport rattled like an antique destined
to come apart at every rivet and seam.

Drawing on the Force, Fenn was able to dispel the heat from his body, but his men weren’t so lucky, and he
helped them up and away from any external surfaces as the pilot pushed the ship hard. Warning klaxons
sounded and then died as the computers seized up in the effects of the blast. Everything was bathed in a
flickering red light, as even the emergency lighting struggled to stay on.

Fenn ran to the cockpit where the pilots were working furiously to keep the ship in the air. They were clear of the
blast, but every panel in the cockpit was dead. The pilot looked over her shoulder and Fenn thought he could
make out a few of her words -- she had no navigation, no thrusters, no maneuvering jets. They were essentially a
red-hot stone, flung through the air, and a crash was inevitable.

“Prepare for a crash landing!” Fenn yelled to his soldiers, but he had no idea if they heard him. The sound of the
Theonide weapon still echoed in the air and the ship was filled with the noise of a vessel being torn apart piece by
piece from the outside. As demonstration, Fenn climbed into a crash harness, and watched with relief as the
commandos did the same.

The entire ship angled upwards suddenly, its nose pointed towards the sky as the heavier (now dead) engines
pulled it towards the ground. Everyone braced for the inevitable.

Fenn closed his eyes and felt ripples of fear and agony through the Force. But he blocked them out and focused
instead on the ship, picturing its trajectory through the air, and the forces acting on it. He felt the flow of the Force
around the ship, guiding it towards the ground. Then, like grabbing it with a giant invisible hand, he imagined the
Force holding them as they fell, slowing their descent, cushioning their landing. The ship continued to buck, but
less violently. It continued to descend, but slower now. The nose still pointed upwards, but less so, and it had
nearly leveled out when, in the next instant, they hit the ground hard.

Grinding and rattling screamed through the hold as the ship hit, bounced, then hit again in its attempt to lose
speed. It tried to flip over, but Fenn forced it to stay more or less upright. They were shoved hard into their
restraints, and the ship skipped sideways as it ricocheted off a rock outcropping and into a corn field. Crops of all
kinds were uprooted, passing on all sides like the wake of a boat through water. Dirt and rocks rained down on
the canopy, and as holes ripped into the ship’s hull, corn and dirt rained down on the soldiers as well.

Still, Fenn held on to the ship through the Force, willing it upright, willing it to stop. He was sweating now, nearly
all his energy spent, but gradually their momentum died off and the ship groaned to a stop. There was silence, as
everybody sat limply in their harnesses, unsure whether they had actually survived the landing or not. A constant
ticking sound signaled the cooling of the ship’s metal hull, and the emergency lighting had given up all attempts to
stay on, plunging the ship instead into darkness. The only light came from small rays peaking through the holes
in the hull, piercing the darkness in scattered points across the floor.

Slowly, they began to unbuckle themselves, still aware of the vibrations rippling beneath their feet as the massive
ships continued their destruction. Gathering their weapons, the soldiers helped each other out of the ruins of the
ship and into the ruins of the crop field that lay devastated around them.

The city, too, had been devastated, and the troops began referring to the colossal ships as exactly that … World
Devastators. Because what else were they for, really, other than decimating the surface of a planet?

Fenn helped the pilots out of the ship, and then exited himself, realizing only belatedly that his left arm seemed to
be broken and hanging limp at his side. He could control the pain, but he’d need medical assistance, and as he
looked around, he realized his entire team was in a similar situation. From here, they could see the trio of
Devastators laying waste to the entire landscape while starfighters and capital warships remained in low orbit.
The Theonides had claimed another world, forcing the Alliance further into retreat. Earthquakes continued to
rumble beneath their feet, and it seemed clear that it was only a matter of time before tectonic forces literally tore
the world apart.

“How will we ever be able to win against that?” one soldier lamented and others grumbled in agreement.

“I don’t know,” Fenn admitted. Inwardly, he wondered if they could be defeated. Then he raised his wrist comlink
to his mouth and said, “Fleet, this is General Brackman. We need a pickup, and then we need to evacuate.
Kallast is lost.”

A veteran of countless wars across multiple centuries, and for the first time, Fenn felt truly uncertain about the
future.

-//-

Finally in the relative safety of hyperspace, everyone got a chance for some much-needed rest. By now, Akrail
and Chala had begun to succumb to the effects of the disease as well, Corellia was in rough shape and Evari was
nearly always comatose, with black liquid beginning to seep from her eyes and nose. And yet, through it all, Zak
remained somehow immune. Aside from a few injuries he’d sustained from the combat on Reuss VIII, he was
otherwise entirely healthy, and after a medpac and some Shimuran meditation techniques, Zak felt as good as
new.

But his colleagues were on death’s doorstep, and he was curious why he alone seemed immune.

Finding a quiet spot on the ship, he sat and crossed his legs, closing his eyes and focussing on what he had
learned from his studies of Ka Lore. Meditating on the ancient teachings, and letting his mind drift through the
Force, he searched for anything that might give him an answer. Anything that might explain why he seemed to be
unique. Why the disease might treat him differently than the others.

And then it occurred to him. Dark Shroud had always said that Zak was a “defective” clone. He did not respond
to orders the way the other clones did, and they had tried to purge him because of it. He also remembered how
the Dark Shroud clone they had once captured and tried to reform had refused to redeem himself and had
gradually decayed and died as the black ooze of Mnggal had seeped from all his orifices.

Piecing these facts together, Zak came to a sudden realization -- the disease wasn’t a disease at all. It was an
infestation of Mnggal, killing its living hosts slowly from the inside out. Zak, however, had always been “defective”
in the eyes of Dark Shroud because they had never been able to get a Mnggal seed to take him as a host -- his
body had always rejected it. That was why he’d never responded to their orders or followed their methods, and
that was why he was immune to the “disease” now.

And if he could banish Mnggal with Force Light, he might be able to cure his colleagues the same way.

Waking from his meditation, Zak hurried to Evari and focussed his presence into the Force. Drawing on the Force
Light power, he channelled the energy into Evari, and immediately sensed Mnggal dissipating from within her. It
took time, but before long, Evari stirred and awoke from her comatose state. All signs of disease were gone.

In turn, Zak cured Corellia, Akrail and Chala, as well as Tress, Tull and the Ortolan girl. It was good to finally have
a “cure” (of sorts), but it also brought with it a dawning realization … Zak was the only Shimuran Monk remaining,
making him the only person in the galaxy who could use the cure. He’d have to start training Tress soon.