Chapter 7: The Pursuit

Waves of reverberation and resonance from the depths of the jungle washed over Kira as she sat crossed legged in a clearing. In a distant corner of her mind, she sensed Ben's consciousness, detached, distracted, almost bored. Kira shifted her focus away from Ben and brought it back to the forest. A deep resonant tension radiated all around her and throughout her. She felt the tension between decay and life, between struggle and peace, between matter and space. She could sense the strange, inscrutable awareness between the trees, the plants, the insects, the fungi in the soil, and the animals. She could sense how her presence and Ben's presence radiated outward, stirring subtle shifts in the life surrounding them before fading into the grand tapestry of light emanating from the depths of the planet's ecosystems.

Meditations within the jungle had always produced the deepest sense of calm, even joy, for Kira. It was a reassurance that, for all the horror, death, and misery of life, there was always this: vibrant landscapes pulsating with life, rich with struggle, perpetuating an endless cycle of death and renewal, light and dark, and separate from her day-to-day concerns. In her most trying times, she would find herself sinking into this awareness, tapping into the deep well of memories containing her experiences touching the living Force, and that often was enough to help her abandon fear, anger, pain, and suffering.

But today, she sought something deeper. She turned away from the jungle and turned inward. There she saw the familiar coursings of thought, byproducts of neurological functioning expressed in arbitrary symbols and webs of association. She pushed past thought and experienced the sensations and urges within her body; a gentle ebb and flow of tension and release as her blood pumped through her arteries, with her heart rate slowing to mere beats per minute and her breathing so still and full that she hardly appeared alive at all. She pushed past this familiar territory into something deeper, darker, less defined: a shadow cast by the light radiating from within her - her dark side.

Even her dark side was something known to her. Her training had led her to acknowledge it, accept it, and reject it as a guiding principle in her life. She had completed this process in the same exemplary manner as she had completed every other task in her training, leaving the question burning within her: how had she failed so utterly? To seek the answer, she moved into memories. She pushed through dimly lit corridors glowing red from emergency lights. She pushed through terrifying scenes within laboratories, experiments performed on her, injuries, even torture. From this distance, wrapped in the warm embrace of Yavin-4's abundant life, the memories were unpleasant, but distant, as if viewed through a holonet. A warm, tenuously connected voice offered reassurance in words she could not understand. She saw herself being pulled out of her room by the woman to whom the voice belonged to; a tired, haunted, but still ineffably kind presence that pulled her away from the horror of that place. She felt the woman stumble, and she broke free, moving ahead. Then fire, flame, smoke, chaos. Next, the woman, dead in the sand. Finally, the withered, detestable face of an old man with yellow eyes and rotten teeth, cackling gleefully.

She held the image of the dead Emperor, feeling the subtle shifts in her physiology as her body activated its defenses. She soothed those sensations through the Force, and she reminded herself that the Emperor was dead. She was certain she had never even met him, and she could not understand how he still appeared this clearly as a memory. She was on the verge of dispelling the memory when two things happened simultaneously. She felt the incursion of a separate consciousness, dark and malevolent. But as soon as that consciousness had emerged, she felt a sudden alarm from Ben. She sensed his disquiet and fear grow stronger, and she withdrew from her meditation.

As the full sensory onslaught of the jungle flooded into the quiet space she created in her meditations, she immediately became aware of Ben seated on a stump reading a report projected by BD-5. She sensed a powerful wave of fear and anxiety radiating from him, and she asked, "What happened?"

Ben looked up. She could tell he was sorry for the interruption to her meditation, but she could also see his deep fear. "It's my dad. The Falcon's computer told me that a creature entered the ship and attacked him and Chewie. They're alive, but unconscious."

Kira felt an echo of his fear; she had never been as close to Han Solo as Leia and Luke, but he had always been kind, if a bit gruff. Chewbacca had been a source of fascination to her as a child; he had been a calm, patient presence in her childhood adjustment to life among people. "Where are they?" she asked Ben.

"Xarthax," Ben said as BD-5 projected a star chart. Xarthax appeared close to Yavin-4, little more than a parsec. He added, "Apparently, it's not just Han and Chewie. Kit Antilles – an old family friend – went with them. She's in the city. The Falcon's computer thinks she's in danger from this creature."

BD-5 warbled, interpreting a data point that Ben had missed. Ben turned to Kira, as he had never figured out how to understand her droid's peculiar warblings. Kira interpreted, "BD-5 said that the Falcon believes the creature that attacked your dad can use the Force."

Ben's alarm spiked. She could feel the volatile shifts in his emotions as he pieced together the scenario in which his father appeared to be ensnared, while arriving at the conclusion that they were all in danger. The conclusion solidified in their minds at the same time, at which point Ben turned to Kira and said, "I'm going to him."

A half-dozen objections formed in Kira's mind, and she said. "Ben, shouldn't we inform the Council. . ."

Ben interrupted her, his agitation evolving into conviction. "No," he replied with evident frustration. "They'll deliberate and meditate on it, and nothing will happen until it's too late."

Kira asked, "But how do we know. . ."

"Kira, it's right here," Ben said, his voice rising. "My father's in danger. Chewie's in danger. They might be dead at any minute. We have to go!"

Kira paused, and a new wave of objections emerged in her mind as she asked, "We?"

Ben nodded grimly. "Yes." Then he added, "You're my Padawan, aren't you?"

Kira backed away a step as she said, "Ben, I nearly killed my Master a few days ago. I don't think the Council is going to be happy if I run off with you on a rescue mission."

Ben retorted with suppressed anger, "To hell with the Council. This is my father."

Kira could hear Master Rancisis's wheezing voice in her mind chastising her about emotional attachments being a path to the dark side. But before she could respond, Ben turned toward her ship and initiated the start-up sequence. A jolt of annoyance spurred her to blurt out, "Ben?!"

Ben continued readying the ship, which had dropped its entrance ramp, "My ship is still waiting for parts from Corellia to fix the hyperdrive." Then, he paused, and turned to her, saying "I'm sorry, Kira. But please – I need to go. Stay if you must, but I need to get there as fast as possible. With your ship, I can be there in a few hours."

Kira hesitated, then, knowing what lengths to which she would go to help those she cared about, she yielded. She nodded to BD-5, who moved toward the ship. She then stepped toward the ship and flipped a few switches, correcting the mistakes Ben had made in initiating the start-up sequence. "Alright," she told him as she entered the ship, "But I fly."

Gratitude washed over Ben as he ducked into the ship behind her. Minutes later, they were in the air, flying toward the planet's atmospheric edge like a taun taun on fire.

***

Having come all this way, Kit resigned herself to knocking on doors to see if she could find a resident of the town who had witnessed anything surrounding the events on the night of the explosion. Four of the first five houses were abandoned, and the resident of the fifth house had slammed the door in her face. She had reached the sixth house and knocked. A middle-aged human opened the door and listened as she explained herself. The man was clearly apprehensive and reluctant in answering questions, but at least he was willing to entertain her. After a few more well-placed questions, Kit thought he was on the verge of opening up, as he said, "Before the big explosion, there was a smaller explosion coupled by some red flashes. At first, I thought it was a firefight – I fought during the Rebellion, you see, and... and..."

The man's voice had tailed off, and his eyes had gone blank. Suddenly, he told Kit, "Leave this place now, and don't come back," before slamming the door in her face. Kit backed away, confused at the sudden about-face. Firefight? Smaller explosions? Could that mean that this had not been a reactor failure after all? She was on the verge of pounding on the door again to continue prying for answers when a prickle at the back of her neck sent a chill through her entire body. She turned slowly to see what was behind her, and she found herself staring at a monstrous creature, jet-black and half insect, half-humanoid. The creature's black, cold, inscrutable eyes protruded above a triangular face, and a breathing apparatus shielded its mouth and nose. A pair of mandibles protruded from the shoulders above another pair of arms that were slender, building to a pair of razor-sharp claws. The creature emitted a crackling sound that turned Kit's insides to ice.

Panic rose in Kit, and she instinctively reached for her blaster. The creature raised a hand, and the blaster flew from Kit's grip. Her blaster froze in mid-air, and the creature clench its fist. The blaster shattered into dozens of pieces. The creature began to approach her, and Kit backed away as her terror mounted. She bumped into something hard that levitated off the ground behind her. But before she could register what it was, a hail of blaster fire erupted from an alleyway to her left. One of the blaster bolts struck the creature in the shoulder, knocking it back into the wall. The creature slumped down, momentarily stunned, and a man, blue-skinned and covered in dried filth, emerged from the alleyway. He looked at the creature, apparently shocked at what he had done. He then turned to her and shouted, "Come on! We have to go!"

Upon seeing the man, she instinctively reached for her blaster, only to remember that it had shattered moments ago. The man rushed toward her, and Kit settled into a crouch, slipping instinctively into her self-defense training. But instead of attacking her, the man stumbled past her to the object that was behind her - an ancient, rusted speeder bike. Not even knowing whether it could still function, he flipped a few switches, and, miraculously, it sputtered to life. She looked at the stranger, feeling a surge of anger and disbelief. She had seen a man with blue skin and red eyes before, and it was that man who had been responsible for her father's death. She knew there were more like him in some distant corner of the Unknown Regions, and his appearance struck her as a more dangerous threat than even the destruction at the Xarthax facility.

"Who are you?" Kit growled. But the man supplied no answer as he banged on the speeder as its repulsorlifts spluttered into life. He looked over his shoulder to see the creature struggling to its feet in pain. Unsure of whether she could trust him or whether she wanted to let him that close to her when he was covered in filth, Kit backed away. The man turned to her after successfully starting the speeder and said, "You stay here, you die."

Kit saw the creature getting to its feet, and she reluctantly agreed, shouting, "Let's go," as she swung her legs over the speeder bike. The man followed her, sending a wave of disgust through Kit as her nose registered his stench.

Kit cranked the throttle, and the speeder shot down the street. She chanced a brief look behind her and saw the creature pulling itself upright as a pair of wings emerged from its back. She heard the man swear as he fired another volley of blaster bolts, all of which missed the creature. The creature lifted off the ground and took flight, pursuing them as Kit nudged the throttle to its limit.

Kit steered the speeder through the town's main road, upon which a smattering of citizens ambled about. People dove out of the way at the speeder's approach, and the strange, malodorous, blue-skinned man continued to fire into the fog at the creature pursuing them. Kit could only make out its shadow, and she suspected that the creature was attempting to remain out of sight of any bystanders. A stray suspicion penetrated her intense concentration that this creature might be connected to the explosion at the information facility, but she couldn't entertain the thought for long as she made a hard right turn to avoid crashing into a stall selling pan-fried brualki.

The man behind her swore again, barking out to her, "We're moving too slow. She's going to catch us."

"She?" Kit hollered back, and she chanced another glance to see the creature swoop out of the mist. The man fired another volley at her, but she swerved away, disappearing back into the mist. Kit looked to her right and saw open space through the gaps in the buildings. At the next intersection, she swerved the speeder to the right, making a hard turn that almost caused their legs to scrape the ground. Directly ahead was a cliff, and beyond, the ocean. Making an instantaneous mental calculation on their odds of survival, Kit closed her eyes and opened the throttle all the way. The speeder shot over the cliff and dropped down to the water below. Their feet dipped into the water before the repulsor lifts recovered and the craft shot off like a scalded mynock over open water. Kit glanced down at her wrist device and then keyed in a map. The Falcon was several kilometers to the east, and there was a partially submerged canyon leading up to the base of the landing pad. She steered the speeder in that direction just as the creature flew out of the mist, nearly knocking the man off the speeder and into the water.

In response, he began firing frantically at the creature as it circled around to resume its pursuit. Kit reached the mouth of the canyon, and the narrow walls reduced the area that they and the creature had to maneuver through. The man's shots came closer, and the creature, realizing the danger, pulled away from its pursuit and disappeared into the mist again. Kit was under no illusion that they had lost the creature, so she gunned the speeder to the safest possible speed she could manage while winding through the canyon.

Her holomap indicated that they were nearly to the Falcon, and the slope of the canyon increased as it rose toward the plateau upon which the Falcon sat. As if launched off a ramp, the speeder flew out of the canyon, gaining elevation for a moment before gravity overtook the power of the repulsor lifts. As the speeder drifted back to the ground, Kit could see the Falcon directly ahead, and she gunned the throttle in the hopes of reaching the ship before the creature returned. A mere 30 meters from the ship, the creature swooped out of the mist directly in front of them, heading straight at Kit. She was losing control of the speeder and watching the ground rush up toward them. She felt the man's grip around her waist tighten uncomfortably as he hung on. They hurtled directly toward the Falcon, and Kit closed her eyes, certain that they were about to become enveloped in a ball of flames as they slammed into the ship.

Only, no crash came. The speeder lurched to a sudden halt, which nearly sent Kit hurtling forward were it not for the man's grip. She looked back at him to see his arm outstretched, his eyes clenched, and his jaw set in furious concentration. The speeder righted itself, then dropped three feet to the ground in a hollow clunk. Kit jumped off the speeder and looked back at the man she had rescued. He had stepped off the speeder and had turned toward the creature, which circled back for a final attack. The man's arm remained outstretched, stupidly, Kit thought, with his blaster held loosely at his side.

As the creature swooped toward them, its cackling rising to a hair-raising shriek, it suddenly stopped 2 meters from her and the stranger. It struggled in mid-air at the unseen force that held it still, writhing and screaming its terrible wail. The man pulled his arm back, then thrust it forward, and the creature flew backwards into a pillar of volcanic rock, hitting it hard and crumpling to the ground, dazed.

A moment later, the stranger collapsed to the ground, unconscious.