Drew Karpyshyn - Darth Bane - Rule of Two

Located beside the navigator in the rear of the vessel, the fourth member of the crew, Master Farfalla, provided support for the pilot, gunner, and navigator. He called up astronav charts, engine readings, weapons status, scanner reports, and anything else the others needed to do their jobs.

Johun was seated up front in the cockpit with Raskta and Sarro, occupying the passenger's chair behind the pilot. Until they reached Tython, his only job was to stay out of everyone else's way.

Using the long-abandoned hyperspace route indicated on the datacard they'd discovered in the Archives, the Justice Crusader had penetrated the Deep Core. Master Raskta had expressed her concern at the start of the voyage: According to current records the hyperspace lanes they were traversing had been known to momentarily collapse without warning. A ship traveling anywhere along the hyperspace corridor during the nanosecond before it reformed would be lost forever. Combined with the other dangers of the Deep Core-including wandering black holes that would rip a vessel apart, even in hyperspace-the instability of the route had led to it falling into disuse and finally being forgotten for well over a thousand years.

Worror had calculated the risk of a hyperspace collapse during their journey at just over 2 percent-more than high enough to make Johun breathe a sigh of relief when they emerged unscathed a few thousand kilometers away from their destination.

"Weapons primed and ready," Sarro's voice told everyone over the intercom. "Any friends we have to worry about?"

"Nothing in orbit," Farfalla reported. "Looks like we're clean."

"I'm taking us in," Raskta told them. "See if you can find anything."

"Picking up an ion trail," Farfalla said as they neared the planet's atmosphere. "Looks like we're right behind them."

"Locking on to the ion trail… locked on." Even over the crackle of an intercom, Worror's deep voice resonated through the ship.

"Engaging autopilot" Raskta said. "Let's see where this takes us. Sarro, keep your trigger finger ready."

The autopilot dropped them down into Tython's atmosphere, and for several seconds the only thing Johun could see through the cockpit viewport was a wall of gray cloud. When they broke free their destination was immediately obvious.

"I think I know where we're headed," Sarro mumbled.

Below them was a flat, empty field virtually devoid of life. A dark fortress was visible on the horizon, the only significant structure in sight.

"Picking up two small vessels on the ground" Farfalla told them as they drew nearer. "Nobody outside, though."

They were close enough now that Johun could make out two melted towers rising up on either side of the stronghold's front face.

"Reading life-forms inside the building," Farfalla noted. "Looks like… three."

"Only three?" Sarro mumbled, sounding disappointed. "This might be too easy."

"Don't count on that," Farfalla warned him as Raskta brought the Justice Crusader in for a landing.

Zannah was trying to concentrate, gathering her mental energies for the coming battle. She was distracted, however, by her Master's own preparations.

Darth Bane was prowling back and forth like an angry rancor, his lightsaber already drawn. She could feel the dark side building inside him, fueled by his rage-his never-ending hatred of the Jedi; his resentment toward Darovit for exposing them; his anger at her for leading the Jedi here to Tython. At any moment she expected to see the bloodlust of the orbalisks unleashed, but Bane kept his fury in check, saving it for the coming battle.

Her Master had led them back inside the stronghold to a large, open room with an exit at either end. A single door would have been easier to defend, but he was wary of getting trapped. If the Jedi cornered them, they would settle in for a long siege and wait for reinforcements to arrive. As the last two surviving Sith, Zannah and her Master did not have the same luxury, so it was important that they keep alternate escape routes open.

The room was empty, completely devoid of any furniture. Based on that fact and its great size-forty meters by thirty-she guessed it had been built as some kind of practice arena or training center. In addition to the exits on either end, there was a small door on one of the side walls that led to a tiny, dead-end room. It had probably served at one time as a storage closet for weapons, targets, and other implements used in drills or training.

At Bane's instruction, she'd stashed the datacard from the Archives inside the closet, and her Master had done the same with Belia Darzu's Holocron. At her suggestion, Darovit was hiding in there, too. He was unarmed, and he would be of no help to either side.

"Don't come out until the fighting's done" she'd warned him, drawing a sour, disapproving look from her Master. "He'll only get in the way" she'd explained as Darovit had closed himself in.

Now there was nothing to do but wait for the enemy to arrive. Fortunately-or unfortunately-they didn't have to wait long.

The doors on either end of the room burst open simultaneously, the Jedi splitting their numbers in two to better coordinate the attack. The first group-a female Echani wielding a blue lightsaber in each hand and a Jedi Master in garish clothes with a golden blade- charged straight for Bane. The other two-a lean, quick-looking Jedi armed with a green lightsaber and a gigantic mountain of a man spinning a massive blue, double-bladed weapon-came at her.

Zannah ignited her own double-bladed lightsaber and threw up a twirling wall of defense, though her weapon looked puny and insignificant set against the blue monster brandished by the larger of her two opponents. Before they could engage her, she backpedaled toward one of the corners, stopping several meters from the intersection of the two walls. This allowed her to protect her flanks, but still left enough space for her to duck, dodge, and evade the weapons of her enemies.

From the corner of her eye she saw Bane take a completely different approach. Protected by his orbalisk armor, he charged forward to meet the two Jedi Masters confronting him head-on.

And then her enemies fell on her. It took only seconds for her to realize that the bigger man was by far the more dangerous opponent. In the time it took for the smaller man to strike at her twice with his green blade, she had batted aside half a dozen attacks from the other. There was a marked difference in the style and effectiveness of their blows, as well. The skills of the Jedi with the green lightsaber were raw and basic. When he struck, it was with either strength or speed, but not both at the same time. His blade came in either high or low, but never altered its plane during the attack. In contrast, the big man attacked her from creative and unexpected angles, the massive blue blades changing course midthrust. Each offensive was a model of lethal efficiency-quick and powerful strikes and counterstrikes that kept an opponent guessing.

Yet as long as Zannah kept her blade spinning to hold its momentum, she was able to ward off both their attacks easily using whirling parries, in large part because the Jedi with the green lightsaber was inadvertently working at cross purposes to his partner. He was attempting to alternate his forays with those of the bigger man, expecting they would take turns pressing forward, then withdrawing, always keeping Zannah on defense. But the incredible reach of the bigger man's weapon made it difficult for him to unleash a sustained volley without fear of injuring or even killing his companion when the other man moved in to join the fray. As a result, the bigger man constantly had to step back, pull up, or lay off his attacks. He was forced into an awkward rhythm of advance and retreat, his timing and strategy dictated as much by his ally as by his opponent.