Light of the Jedi(100)

It happened again, and there was no reason to it, no pattern. The Nihil just dropped from one place and then—

A momentary impression of something large, solid, too close to avoid, appearing right in the middle of the Drift, and then an impact so gigantic he could not truly comprehend it. A huge flash of light, and his sense of many of the Jedi around him vanished. Then something slammed into the canopy of his cockpit, and through it, some sharp chunk of metal that speared directly into his shoulder, through his body and well into his pilot’s seat, severing his arm at the joint.

Through the shock, Sskeer thought he understood what had happened. Somehow, the Nihil were entering hyperspace, then dropping back out of it, impossibly short distances away. One had appeared from hyperspace directly in the middle of the Drift, and the ensuing collision had caused a spreading wave of destruction and chaos.

Sskeer howled, not so much at the pain or even the loss of his limb—he was Trandoshan, and so his arm would regrow in time—but at something worse.

One of the Jedi he could no longer sense…was Jora Malli.





Loden whipped his Vector up and away from the disabled Nihil ship, slamming his lightsaber against the control console, the weapons bank lighting up. He powered on his shields, knowing they wouldn’t last for more than a few hits from the armada that had somehow appeared from nowhere.

The trick, then, was not to get hit.

“Indeera!” he called, scanning both the threat display on his console and everything the Force was telling him about the endless array of Nihil ships surrounding him.

A brief moment, a breath, as if the enemy fleet was considering the same collective decision, and then blasterfire. Everywhere, a cascade. Loden banked and wove and tried to be as challenging a target as possible, knowing that with this level of fire coming at him, he was just as likely to run into an off-target bolt as he was to be hit by a Nihil with exceptionally good aim.

So he stopped thinking about it at all and surrendered himself to the Force, letting it guide his movements. Overthinking the situation would only end up with him getting in his own way. While he wasn’t certain—no one could ever be—he did not believe it was his time to die.



A blaster bolt sizzled off his front shields, and he reevaluated.

It is probably not my time to die, he thought.

“I’m here, Loden,” Indeera said. “What’s happening?”

“A Nihil fleet dropped in from hyperspace, and they don’t seem particularly happy,” he said.

“Here? That’s not possible.”

“Please let them know that.”

“Are you all right?”

“For the moment. I’m just staying out of their way. But I can’t do it forever. We need to resolve this now.”

A brief pause, then Indeera spoke again.

“They aren’t firing on this ship, or my Vector.”

“I know. They must want to ensure the family survives,” Loden said, sending out a few blasts from his own cannons, causing one of the smaller Nihil craft to explode.

“Who are these Blythes? Why are they so valuable?”

“Does it matter?”



“No…but I can only take one of them with me in my Vector, Loden. The father wants me to take his son first, if I can get him out—but I’m not sure how I get past the Nihil even if I can get back to my ship.”

“Do that. Take the son. I’ll cover your retreat, then I’ll grab the father and follow you back to Elphrona. Planetary security might not want to do anything about a single marauder crew, but they’ll have to respond to an entire invasion fleet.”

“All right…but Loden…how will you do that?”

He put his Vector into a roll, shooting again. This time he missed, but at least he was alive, still fighting.

“Eh,” he said. “I’ll probably just trust in the Force or something.”

Nothing from Indeera. Loden laughed.



“It’ll be all right. Or it won’t, but I’ll do my best. Do me a favor and leave the outer air lock open when you go, Indeera.”

“That sounds like you actually do have a plan.”

“I wouldn’t call it a plan. It’s more like five impossible things in a row. I’m just going to hit them one at a time.”

He flew straight at the largest Nihil ship, briefly evading fire from the nine or ten smaller craft on his tail while opening himself up to laser blasts from the cruiser. But better one attacker than ten.

“I’m running out of time, Indeera. We need to mix this up. You ready?”

“Ready,” she said.

“Go!” Loden shouted.

Loden slowed his breathing, reaching out to the Force. He pulled his hands back from his control sticks, leaving just his fingertips touching their surfaces. Vectors were responsive craft as a rule—and this particular one was more attentive to its pilot’s commands than most. He had once heard his Padawan—no, his former Padawan, Bell would soon be a fellow Jedi Knight—tell Ember the ship’s name, when he thought no one was listening.

The Nova. Perhaps Bell kept it secret because he thought it was silly or childish. Loden thought it was beautiful. He wished he’d told Bell that. Next time they saw each other.