[Legacy Of The Force] - 06 - Inferno (Troy Denning), Star Wars - Books And Short Stories
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Star WarsLegacy of the ForceBook 6Infernoby Troy Denning###############################################################################Many people contributed to this book in ways large and small. I would like to thank them all, especially the following: Andria Hayday for her support, critiques, and many valuable suggestions; James Luceno, Leland Chee, Howard Roffman, Amy Gary, Pablo Hidalgo, and Keith Clayton for their fine contributions during our brainstorming sessions- initial and otherwise; Shelly Shapiro and Sue Rostoni for everything, from their remarkable patience to their insightful reviewing and editing to the wonderful ideas they put forth both inside and outside of the brainstorming sessions- and especially for being so great to work with; to my fellow writers, Aaron Allston and Karen Traviss, for all their hard work-coordinating stories and writing them-and their myriad other contributions to this book and the series; to Laura Jorstad for her attention to detail; to all the people at Lucasfilm and Del Rey who make being a writer so much fun; and, finally, to George Lucas for letting us take his galaxy in this exciting new direction.Dramatic Personae:Alema Rar; Jedi Knight (female Twi'lek)Ben Skywalker; Junior GAG member (male human)Han Solo; captain, Millennium Falcon (male human)Jacen Solo; Sith Lord (male human)Jae Juun; intelligence operative (male Sullustan)Jagged Fel; bounty hunter (male human)Jaina Solo; Jedi Knight (female human)Leia Organa Solo; Jedi Knight (female human)Luke Skywalker; Jedi Grand Master (male human)Saba Sebatyne; Jedi Master (female Barabel)Salle Serpa; GAG major (male human)Tahiri Veila; Jedi Knight (female human)Tarfang; master spy (male Ewok)Tenel Ka; Hapan Queen Mother (female human)Zekk; Jedi Knight (male human)PrologueThe scream and roar of combat began to reverberate through the empty grashal, and wisps of battle smoke materialized in the green beams of their helmet lamps. Jacen- now Darth Caedus, he reminded himself - continued to pull into the past, one glove clamped around the arm of Tahiri's pressure suit, the other anchored to the rim of a blaster-pitted gestation bin. The brown stains on the bin's exterior grew wet and red, and crouching forms started to manifest in the surrounding darkness.As he drew more heavily on the Force, the sallow light of glow-lichen began to shine down through the thickening smoke, revealing the cloning lab in which Jacen's brother, Anakin, had died. Where there had been only barren vacuum a few moments before, now a pulsing jungle of white nutrient vines corkscrewed up from the gestation bins that lined the grashal floor. Streaks of color and darkness were flashing past in both directions, the air swirling with razor bugs and the floor shaking with grenade detonations."I hope I'm ready for this, "Tahiri said. Over the suit comm, her voice sounded brittle and uncertain. "Maybe my first flow-walk shouldn't have been into the middle of a battle."Jacen knew it was not the battle that made Tahiri nervous, but he saw no advantage in forcing her to admit it. "We'll be fine, "he said. "We're ghosts here. Even if a Yuuzhan Vong sees us, he can't do us harm.""It's us doing harm that worries me, "Tahiri replied "What if we change something we shouldn't - something that alters the present?""That's unlikely." Actually, Jacen should have said impossible. Any change they made in the past would be corrected by the Force, and the flow would return to its present course. But he did not explain that to Tahiri. He needed her to believe they were taking a small but terrible chance, risking temporal catastrophe to deal with her unresolved grief. "I won't let you do anything wrong. Just relax.""Unlikely isn't very relaxing, "Tahiri replied. "Not when you're talking about the fate of the galaxy.""Trust me, "Jacen said. "I've been flow-walking for years, and the galaxy hasn't come to an end yet.""Not that we know of."Tahiri turned toward the back of the grashal, where Anakin and the rest of the strike team were fighting through a breach in the wall. Their brown jumpsuits were blood-crusted and tattered, and their faces were haggard with fear and exhaustion - yet also tight with determination and resolve. This had been the objective of their mission, the cloning lab where the Yuuzhan Vong created the voxyn that had killed so many Jedi, and they would not leave until it was destroyed.The Force began to hum with Tahiti's anger and sadness, and her hand drifted toward her lightsaber. Jacen could sense how she ached to do more than give Anakin the final kiss she had denied him at the time - how she longed to ignite her weapon and somehow prevent his approaching death.A trio of thermal grenades detonated overhead, filling the dome with orange brilliance and spraying hot shrapnel in all directions. Nutrient vines fell in ropes of fire, and Yuuzhan Vong dropped to the floor in writhing heaps. Tahiri cringed and turned to dive for cover, but Jacen jerked her back. Shrapnel flew past without striking the pair, and flames licked at their pressure suits without melting anything."I told you we can't be harmed here, "Jacen said."You also told me it was a coincidence we crossed paths on Anakin's anniversary day, "Tahiri replied. "That doesn't mean I believe you."Jacen frowned behind his visor. "You think I arranged to bump into you?""Come on, Jacen, "Tahiri said. "I'm a smart girl."Jacen hesitated, wondering how much she knew about what he had done a week earlier, whether she had linked their trip here to his aunt's murder on Kavan. It was foolish to think he could kill the wife of Luke Skywalker and avoid discovery indefinitely, yet he had to. Jacen had foreseen that the Confederation's boldness would soon put victory within the Alliance's grasp - but only if the Jedi did not interfere with his plans.After a moment, Jacen said, "Okay, let's say I did arrange it. Why did you come?""Because I was tempted, "Tahiri answered. "And I want to find out what you need from me.""I don't need anything, "Jacen lied. "I just thought this might help you move on.""You expect me to believe that?""It's for Anakin, too, "Jacen said. "I think my brother deserves this much.... don't you?"A guilty ripple rolled through the Force. "Not fair!" Tahiri protested. "And I still don't believe you."Jacen raised the shoulders of his pressure suit in an awkward shrug. "Does that mean you don't want to go through with this?"Tahiri sighed. "You know better than that.""Then you have to trust my instructions, "Jacen said "You can't react to the past. The more you become a part of it, the more likely you are to be seen - and the more power it has to harm you.""Okay, I understand." Over the suit comm, it was difficult to tell whether Tahiri's tone was resentful or embarrassed. "It won't happen again.""Good."Jacen turned back to the battle, where the momentary silence that had followed the grenade explosions had been shattered by screaming blaster bolts and droning razor bugs. In the back of the grashal, Anakin was just rising to his feet as the strike team took advantage of the enemy's disarray to overrun the cloning lab. When Jacen saw his own figure dodging through the battle, he remembered how sad he had been for his wounded brother, how wrong it had seemed for the war to take such a noble young life It was like watching himself in a home holo, wondering how he could ever have been so naive. Perhaps, once he united the galaxy, such idealism would no longer seem quite so foolish.The boom of a longblaster sounded outside the grashal, then a trio of Jedi came rushing inside. The young Tahiri - then just fifteen - was in the lead. Her blond hair billowed behind her; the scars suffered during her imprisonment among the Yuuzhan Vong were still red on her forehead. She and the others had barely cleared the breach before a ball of yellow-orange fire followed them inside and exploded.The shock wave hurled the Jedi in three different directions, but they quickly used the Force to bring their trajectories under control and come down safely. Young Tahiri tucked herself into a front roll and disappeared behind a gestation bin, then emerged from the other end returning to her feet. Anakin was already rushing to her side, his free hand cupped over his abdomen, his jaw clenched against the pain of his wound.The voice of the older Tahiri came over the suit comm. "We need to move closer.""Fine, but stay in contact with me or the current will carry you off." Still holding Tahiti's arm, Jacen started toward his brother and the young Tahiri. "And whatever you do, don't open your pressure suit. Our presences are still anchored in our own time, so you'll decompress.""Thanks for the warning, "Tahiri replied drily. "But I had kind of guessed."Anakin and young Tahiri were now crouching together behind a gestation bin. Had his brother survived this battle, the pair would almost certainly have become lovers and then married. He sometimes wondered how that might have changed things, whether that extra bit of happiness and stability could somehow have kept the galaxy from spinning so wildly out of control.As Jacen led the way around behind the pair, young Tahiri suddenly raised her arm and pointed across the aisle, toward a scorched bin overflowing with Yuuzhan Vong corpses. Next to the bin, the strike team's meter-high healer, Tekli, stood over the scaly bulk of Tesar Sebatyne. She was sprinkling stinksalts on the Barabel's forked tongue, trying to rouse him from his unconsciousness.... and failing miserably.Jacen continued to lead the way closer, moving very slowly and carefully. Flow-walkers tended...
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