She dove toward the courtyard wall and hit the ground, gasping at the jolt of pain that speared through her. She rolled, looking upward to see the gouts of smoke that erupted from a huge explosion inside the Great Temple. The crumbled remnants of massive stones tumbled down its sides in an avalanche.
Zekk ran for cover, too, but the hailstorm of rock moved faster than he could dodge. A large chunk of stone struck him in the head, while other fragments pummeled his body. As Jaina watched the dark-haired young man sink to the ground, it came to her in a flash: he had known.
Zekk had known the temple was going to blow up.
And he had saved them all.
25
Out in the unexplored jungles of Yavin 4, on the far side of the moon from where Luke Skywalker had established his Jedi academy, the wrecked TIE fighter smoldered after the crash.
The cockpit hatch opened, and Qorl crawled out, coughing and wheezing. With a heave from his human arm, he raised his shoulders, then worked the rest of his body free. His droid arm sparked and sizzled from damage it had received in the crash.
Qorl felt no pain, though. He was still functioning on adrenaline as he hauled himself out of the ship. His legs were numb and stiff, but they still worked. He dropped down from his ruined TIE fighter, then staggered into the protection of the trees just in case the craft exploded.
Alone in the jungle, Qorl watched the TIE fighter smoke until he was confident that none of the engines would go critical. The wrecked ship gradually heaved its last sigh and died.
The damage to his craft was severe: its outer hull had been punctured by iron-hard Massassi tree branches, its two planar energy arrays ripped askew; one had even been broken off.
As he had flown in, pummeled by the Rebel forces, dodging turbolaser bolts until the fatal strike that had caused him to reel out of control, Qorl had seen the Star Destroyers defeated. While wrestling for control of his TIE fighter, he had watched the Shadow Academy explode behind him.
He knew now that all hope for the Second Imperium was gone. The Emperor himself had been aboard the Shadow Academy, as had Lord Brakiss. The remaining Dark Jedi fighters on the surface would no doubt be rounded up and taken to Rebel prisons.
Qorl had much to regret. Rather than let one of the Solo twins die, he had made the choice to sacrifice his twisted student Norys. That had been a betrayal, and he was ashamed of it. Surrender was also betrayal… .
But Qorl had never surrendered.
He found himself stranded in the jungle again. His ship was beyond repair. The Second Imperium was defeated. Qorl had no place to go, no orders to follow … no reason to do anything other than search for a new place to live.
Perhaps it was best this way.
He could make a nice home for himself here. He knew this jungle, the fruits that were good to eat, which animals were easiest to hunt. Qorl realized that, despite the glory of returning to the Second Imperium and fighting once more for his Emperor, he had enjoyed those years of solitude, the quiet peace of living alone in the jungle.
In fact, he decided that this fate was not so bad, after all.
Qorl trudged off into the jungle to search out a new home. This time, he intended to spend the rest of his life there.
26
The morning after the great battle on Yavin 4 dawned cool and clear. Within hours, the bright sunlight dispensed with the lingering tatters of lacy mist that clung to the rubble-strewn base of the Great Temple and to the trees around it. Overhead, the giant orange planet Yavin filled much of the sky. Waiting with Lowie and Jacen on the landing field, Jaina marveled at the difference a night’s rest and a good meal could make on her perspective. After Luke, Tionne, Lando, and a couple of GemDiver engineers had determined that the lower two levels of the Great Temple were structurally sound, the remaining trainees and staff had made their way back into the pyramid, retrieving an ecstatic Artoo-Detoo, who had been waiting below. Admiral Ackbar’s transports had evacuated the most seriously injured students, while those with only minor wounds had been treated and returned to their own chambers in the temple.
Jaina felt fortunate—and a bit guilty—that she had emerged from the battles almost completely unscathed. She had a few cuts and bruises from where stones had hit her after the explosion, but that was all.
Jaina ran an appraising eye over her friend Lowbacca. His shoulder was back in position again, his arm supported by a wide cloth strap, his broken ribs wrapped. The Wookiee normally wore only his webbed belt made of syren plant fibers, so the sling and the thick white bandaging around his midriff seemed oddly out of place.
She heard a warble and bleep behind her, and turned to find Artoo and her uncle Luke coming across the landing field to join them. The Jedi Master’s face held a look of serenity and determination, but his eyes showed a glint of humor.
“I think I looked even worse than that,” Luke said without preamble, “after my encounter with the Wampa ice creature on Hoth.”
“Yes, but Lowie’s looking a lot better this morning,” Jaina agreed.
Luke chuckled. “Actually, I was referring to the Great Temple itself.”
Jaina turned to study the ancient Massassi pyramid. The topmost level had collapsed where the detonators had exploded, and part of the sides had slumped downward. The broken, jagged walls of the grand audience chamber could have been mistaken for crenellations atop the battlements of some ancient fortress.
“At first I thought we might have to move the academy to some other temple,” Luke said, “but now … I’m not sure we need to.”
“You mean we could rebuild it?” Jacen asked with a groan. “Great—more practice exercises, lifting rocks, balancing beams …”
Artoo-Detoo twittered and beeped, as if excited at the idea. Lowie rumbled thoughtfully, then growled in pain, holding his aching ribs.
“Yes,” Luke said. “In one way or another we’ve all been hurt through our encounters with the dark side. I think rebuilding the Great Temple might be a part of healing each of our wounds.”
“Like Zekk,” Jaina murmured, feeling her heart contract painfully. “He needs a lot of healing.”
“That reminds me, Uncle Luke,” Jacen said, “what will you do with the Dark Jedi trainees we captured?”
“Tionne and I are working with them. We’ll do our best to turn them back to the light side, but if it’s not possible …” He spread his hands. “I’ll have to discuss that with Leia, and—”
“Oh, Master Lowbacca, look!” Em Teedee interrupted from his clip at Lowie’s waist. Jaina noticed that the tiny droid’s speaker grille had been straightened and meticulously polished.
“Hey, they’re back,” Jacen cried.
Lando’s shuttle, with Lowie’s battered T-23 in tow, arrowed toward a corner of the landing field well away from the blaster-scarred hulk of the Lightning Rod.
Uttering a joyous howl, Lowie gave Em Teedee a grateful pat.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Jaina asked as the shuttle and the T-23 touched down.
Jaina, Jacen, and Lowie hurried forward. By the time they reached it, the shuttle’s landing ramp had extended, and Lando Calrissian strode down it with Tenel Ka on his arm. Lando’s cape swirled behind him and he flashed his most charming grin. “Your friend here is quite a tough young lady,” he said approvingly.
“This is a fact,” she said, without the slightest trace of humor.
“I could have told you that,” Jacen said. “Did you find it?”
Tenel Ka nodded, a satisfied look on her face. She pulled her arm free, plucked something from her belt, and held it out to show Jacen. It was the rancor-tooth lightsaber that she had lost during her clash with Tamith Kai on the battle platform. “It was not as difficult to locate as I had feared,” she said. “Perhaps because I knew the rancor whose tooth this was, I was able to sense its location.”