Brakiss showed the faintest glimmer of uncertainty in his normally calm and peaceful eyes when Luke drove in, this time intending to win. Luke struck again with the lightsaber, always maintaining his focus and drive, not letting anger take control, doing only what he wished to do.
The Master of the Shadow Academy defended himself, and Luke saw his chance to strike. He altered his aim just slightly, not striking the energy blade itself. He could have swung lower to take off the hand of his former student, much as Darth Vader had cut off Luke’s own hand—but Luke didn’t want to maim Brakiss in such a way. He needed only to ruin his weapon.
His lightsaber struck across the top of Brakiss’s handle, just below the terminus of the energy beam and above the knuckles of the grip. The top two centimeters of the spiked-claw end of Brakiss’s lightsaber sprayed off, sheared away in a smoking, molten mass.
Brakiss shrieked and dropped his sparkling lightsaber to the ground, where it lay useless, smoldering, no longer a weapon, simply a hunk of components … none of which worked.
The Master of the Shadow Academy held up his hands and staggered back. “Don’t kill me, Skywalker! Please don’t kill me!”
The terror on Brakiss’s face seemed all out of proportion to the threat. Surely the shadow Jedi knew that Luke Skywalker was not the type to strike down an unarmed enemy in cold blood. Brakiss clutched at his silvery robe, fumbling with the fastenings.
Luke strode toward him, lightsaber extended. “You are my captive now, Brakiss. It’s time for us to end this battle. Order your Dark Jedi to surrender.”
Brakiss let his robes fall away, revealing a jumpsuit and repulsorpack. “No. I have other business to attend to,” he said, and ignited the repulsorjets.
As Luke stared in astonishment, Brakiss rocketed skyward, flying high out of reach. The Dark Jedi instructor must have landed his ship somewhere nearby, Luke realized, and he would no doubt head directly back to the Shadow Academy.
In dismay, Luke watched his fallen student escape once more—defeated, but still capable of causing further damage.
The pain of loss flooded Luke’s mind, as fresh as on the day Brakiss first fled the Jedi academy. “Brakiss, I’ve failed to save you again,” he groaned.
The other man dwindled to a small point in the sky and disappeared.
18
In space, the Second Imperium fleet fired their weapons.
Ackbar shouted, “All personnel, battle stations!” The Calamarian admiral gestured with his flippered hands. “Shields up! Prepare to return fire!”
The two front-most modified Star Destroyers lunged forward, their turbolaser batteries blazing. Brilliant green streaks sliced out, zeroing in on Ackbar’s flagship.
Jaina stood beside the Calamarian admiral and squeezed her eyes shut as the blinding flashes shattered against their forward shields. “The Second Imperium must have been building their fleet in secret,” she said. “Those ships look like the construction was rushed.”
“But they are still deadly,” Ackbar said, nodding solemnly. “Now I know why they stole those hyperdrive cores and turbolaser batteries when they attacked the Adamant.” He turned to his communications systems, bellowing orders in his gravelly voice. “Shift target from the Shadow Academy. That training station is a lesser threat than the new battleships. Target the Imperial Star Destroyers.”
The weapons officers working at their command stations called out in alarm and dismay, “Sir, our targeting locks won’t match! Those ships are broadcasting friendly ID signals. We are unable to fire.”
“What?” Ackbar said. “But we can see the Star Destroyers.”
“I know, Admiral,” the tactical officer shouted. “But our computers won’t fire—they think those are New Republic ships. It’s built into the programming.”
Suddenly understanding, Jaina exclaimed, “They stole guidance and tactical computer systems during their raid on Kashyyyk! The Imperials must have installed them in their own ships just to confuse our weapons computers. We’ll have to change our targeting locks, or else we won’t be able to fire. The ‘Identify Friend or Foe’ fail-safe systems will prevent it.”
Lando Calrissian had been listening on the open channel; his voice now boomed over the comm. “Since my ships from GemDiver Station use different computers, I guess the first round is up to us.”
Lando’s hodgepodge group of independent ships swept in on the Star Destroyers from all sides, firing a barrage of proton torpedoes at key points to dilute the overall shield strength.
“A little trick I picked up,” Lando explained over the comm unit as Jaina stood beside Ackbar watching. “This whole thing reminds me of the battle of Tanaab.” Then he gave a whoop of triumph as another volley of torpedoes detonated at once, two of them penetrating the shields and leaving a white-hot chain of flames along the side of one Star Destroyer. Lando’s ships kept firing and firing, but now the Imperials began targeting the smaller craft, leaving Ackbar’s vessels alone.
“Admiral,” Jaina said, “if the Second Imperium is so clever that they can use our own computer systems to trick us, can’t we turn the tables—use our computers against them?”
Ackbar turned his enormous round eyes on her. “What do you have in mind, Jaina Solo?”
She bit her lower lip, then drew a deep breath. The idea was crazy, but … “You’re the supreme commander of the entire New Republic fleet. Isn’t it programmed into the computers that they must accept some sort of override signal from you in cases of extreme emergency—like this one?”
Ackbar stared at her, his mouth gaping as if he needed a drink of water or a long breath of moist air. “By the Force, you’re right, Jaina!”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” she said, rubbing her hands together. “Let’s get reprogramming.”
After destroying his own student Norys to rescue Jacen Solo, Qorl’s insides felt deadened, as if the rest of his body had turned into a droid … just like his mechanical left arm.
After all his years of training and loyalty, he had betrayed the Second Imperium. Betrayed! He had allowed his heart to decide, rather than following blind obedience and cold ambition.
But young Jacen had been kind to him, had helped rescue him, had shown him warmth and friendship, though Qorl knew he had done nothing to deserve it….
He had taken the twins prisoner, threatened their lives, forced them to repair his crashed TIE fighter so he could return to the Empire. Since then he had made small, secret gestures to repay them, such as when he’d cautiously helped them to escape the Shadow Academy. But killing his own student to protect them …
Qorl had committed a grave mistake by making decisions on his own. He should have known better. It wasn’t his place to make decisions. He was a TIE pilot, a soldier of the Second Imperium. He helped instruct other pilots and stormtroopers. His allegiance was to the Emperor and his government. Soldiers didn’t have the luxury of making their own minds about which orders to follow and which ones to ignore.
His mind in turmoil, he took his TIE fighter up toward orbit. Most of his squadron had fallen out of formation, attacked or destroyed by unknown defenses on Yavin 4. He should return and report to his superiors. He would have to decide whether to surrender or confess what he had done … and face Lord Brakiss’s retribution.
Qorl’s jaw clenched. Surrender is betrayal. How could he be willing to do this? His ship’s engines howled as he tore free of the atmosphere and headed straight toward the looming Shadow Academy station.
He saw with astonishment that he had stumbled into the middle of an enormous space battle.