Клаудия Грэй - Into the Dark

At least they’d rearmed themselves, as Leox had suggested. She put one hand on the lone thermal detonator in her bag, just to reassure herself it was there. It would be better not to fight at all, but if the Nihil had started a fight, Affie wanted to know she could end it.

A barely audible thump seemed to be coming from the airlock ring. Affie hesitated—get to the fight or head to the airlock, where apparently the Vessel had just docked? They’d have better odds in a fight if Leox and Geode were with them. The airlock ring it was.

Bag scraping along the wall behind her, Affie made her way around the corner, into a corridor that opened up into the main arboretum. So far as she could see, nothing had changed; the idols were back more or less where they’d been before and the 8-Ts were gardening as usual. But some of the greenery down there—trees and logs and such—had it moved ? Since when did plants wander?

Affie gave herself permission to keep going and ask questions later.

She continued down the long spiral walkway into the path that traced the circumference of the airlock ring, where, apparently, the Vessel had not docked. Instead, several dark-clad figures were emerging from what had to be a massive ship. As Affie’s eyes adjusted, she could make out the blue streaks painted into their hair and across the ghoulish breathmasks they wore.

Those masks were all too familiar.

“The Nihil,” she whispered. Their huge warship had docked with the station after all. They were invading the station en masse. What chance did she and her friends have?

None…unless she stopped the war party from boarding.

Affie didn’t see the Jedi below her. For their sakes, she hoped they weren’t too close by. No time to check. She took the thermal detonator from her bag. Its heft felt strange in her hand, unfamiliar and frightening; Affie knew how dangerous a weapon it was. She’d never actually used one before.

But she’d brought it to save her friends, and that’s what she intended to do. Affie set its timer to ten seconds and then hurled it straight toward the airlock connected with the Nihil ship.

Dropping to the walkway floor, she had just enough time to cover her head before the explosion.

BOOM! The shock wave hit her, a physical impact that knocked her onto her side. Even though her arms had been over her ears, she was momentarily deafened to anything but a high-pitched static sound. Blinking, Affie stared up at air thick with swirling dust and small scorched pieces of what might have been fabric, armor, or skin.

Nausea gripped her. Affie’d had to defend herself and her ship before, but actually killing multiple people—even if they were Nihil—

Then she felt, rather than heard, feet marching up the metal steps of the walkway.

Someone had survived the blast, and that someone was coming directly toward her.

Me and my big mouth , Orla thought, not for the first time, when she realized the Nihil freighter was docking with the station only fifty meters down that arc of the airlock corridor, past the nearest arch. I bragged about our having lightsabers, and what happens? More enemies than the three of us could ever cut down.

Probably this was the Force teaching her about humility. Orla hated humility.

Her consternation lasted only as long as it took her to turn toward their oncoming attackers, because at that moment, something detonated with a mighty roar. The flash-bang of the explosion sent Hague staggering backward, and even the Jedi rocked on their feet. At least some of the Nihil fell, but through the roiling black smoke just beyond the arch, other warriors continued rushing toward them, ignoring their fallen comrades.

Had a Nihil weapon gone off accidentally? Was this ancient station finally starting to break down after all the mayhem of the past several days?

Doesn’t matter , Orla figured. You caught a break. Use it.

She launched herself toward Hague, who had righted himself—but only just. Orla landed almost at his feet, as if she were kneeling before him. Maybe he thought she was about to surrender. Instead she ignited her double-bladed saber—blades parallel, handle still locked—and slashed upward to slice his blaster rifle into three parts. Plasma sparks sprayed around them as Orla snapped her saber handle open so the two blades shone from either end.

Hague winced, but his anger was greater than his caution. With the smoldering piece of the blaster rifle still in his hands, he swung down at Orla’s head. She managed to dodge, then leapt backward several meters to get a better look at the unfolding conflict.

Cohmac faced the archway, blocking fire with his lightsaber at such speed that Orla could hardly make out the blade; he seemed to be holding a swirling shield of brilliant color. Because of that, the Nihil couldn’t advance past the archway to infiltrate the station at large.

That wasn’t a victory. Only a stalemate. Even if Orla joined him, two Jedi could only hold that many armed warriors at bay for so long.

She looked around and saw, embedded within the various arches of the outer ring, what looked like emergency doors, probably put there in case of atmospheric breach. Their structure appeared compromised by both the explosion and time; the centuries-old frame was showing strain and even fine patterns of small holes. They wouldn’t keep anything airtight any longer. But that didn’t mean the doors couldn’t be put to use.

She’d need the manual controls, which she spotted near the ceiling. A small service ladder provided a way for Orla to get up there without spending the energy to jump directly; from the looks of things, she needed to reserve her strength. The ladder was close enough to one of the controls for her to reach. Unfortunately, it was also high enough to make her a perfect target for the blasters of the Nihil. Reigniting her saber, she spun its two white blades to create a kind of shield, like a shimmering circle, that deflected the blaster fire. To judge by the yelps and curses she heard, the fire was ricocheting straight back at the Nihil. With her free hand, she reached for the controls—they were just past the tips of her fingers—but it took only the slightest tug with the Force to pull them free.

The walls began to shudder. She cried, “Look out below!”

With a mighty crash, the long-dormant emergency doors shot out and slammed shut. They created a three-meter-tall wall that nearly blocked the entire length and width of the ring; a few holes betrayed time and damage, but they weren’t easily breached. The barrier was hardly impregnable, since the Nihil could go around the long way, but it would slow them down. Maybe it would also make them think twice before escalating the conflict.

Sliding down the ladder got Orla back to the floor before the dust had settled. Cohmac stood there panting, only just beginning to lower his lightsaber, and gave her the shadow of a smile. “You always were excellent at improvisation.”

“It’s my specialty.” Orla put one hand on his shoulder. “Are you all right?”

Cohmac held up a hand as he coughed. “Fine. I inhaled a few particulates. Nothing a kolto rinse can’t fix.”

Next they needed to come up with a plan to not only keep the Nihil out of the station at large but also drive them away completely. Or so Orla thought, before she heard the scream. “Who’s that?” she said. “Not one of the Nihil—”

“It’s Affie,” Cohmac said, his face falling. “She’s in trouble.”

Orla finished for him. “And I just trapped her on the other side.”

The electric-blue swirl of hyperspace visible through the transport pod windows might’ve been comforting if Reath hadn’t known the Drengir were seeing it, too.