Formbi stared at them as though they had told him they were Sith Lords. “You people make the Ssi-ruuk look kind!”
“Jedi Knights often find themselves in tumultuous situations,” Luke replied. “Their judgment must remain sound, no matter what they are feeling.”
“Sound judgment is a warrior’s best weapon,” Formbi agreed. “Though I don’t understand what the Jedi have against laughing.”
The slidewalk carried them past the centering exercise, and R2-D2’s presence began to fade. Luke looked back and, finding the confused droid facing the wrong direction, used the Force to lift him back to the group.
Mara was already grilling Formbi again. “… convinced the Ascendancy the Killiks are dangerous?”
Formbi hesitated a moment, then asked, “Do you recall our first meeting, when I welcomed you aboard the Chaf Envoy to examine the wreck of the Outbound Flight?”
“How could we forget?” Luke said. “The whole mission was a gambit to lure the Vagaari into attacking, so you could carry the war to them legally.”
“The choice was theirs,” Formbi said defensively. “But yes. And do you happen to remember how many ruling families there were at the time?”
“Nine,” Mara said instantly. When it came to politics, she rarely forgot a fact. “But five years later, when we visited Csilla, the number was four. I assumed the discrepancy to be a result of a war with the Vagaari.”
“Not directly,” Formbi said. “But the Third Vagaari War did leave us with a labor shortage, and that led to the discrepancy.”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Luke said. “Were the losses of some families so heavy-“
“Several families began to hire entire nests from the Colony. It seemed the perfect solution. The insects were plentiful, industrious, and not averse to risk. This was a couple of years before your Raynar arrived, and they began to care about surviving.” Formbi winced at how that sounded, then hastened to add, “Of course, we were careful not to take advantage.”
“Of course.” Luke had the unhappy feeling that he saw where this was leading. “Didn’t you know about the Joiners?”
“We took precautions,” Formbi said. “Very stringent precautions.”
“That still didn’t work,” Mara surmised.
“They worked,” Formbi replied. “Until someone started sabotaging them. “
“The Killiks?” Luke asked.
Formbi frowned. “We value fools no more than the Jedi, Master Skywalker. The precautions remained solely under our control.”
There was a moment of silence, then Mara asked, “And?”
“We don’t really understand,” Formbi admitted. “It may have been interfamily rivalries. All we know is that the precautions broke down, and before we realized it, two entire families had become Joiners.”
“Only two?” Luke asked. “What about the other missing families?”
“Three of the families had become critically dependent on insect labor,” Formbi replied. “There was a dispute over the best course of action.”
“The Ascendancy had a civil war?” Luke gasped.
“Chiss do not have civil wars, Master Skywalker,” Formbi replied. “We have disagreements. The matter was resolved before your visit to Csilla-though I do believe you were witness to some reverberations.”
“The attack on Soontir Fel?” Mara asked. “I thought that concerned the aid he provided the Galactic Alliance against the Yuuzhan Vong.”
“It is easy to disagree with the policies of someone who has destroyed your family,” Formbi said. “Fel has a habit of being too merciful for his own good.”
The slidewalk carried them to the training field that had been Luke’s destination all along, a jumbled course full of traps, hazards, and obstacles. Two teams of senior apprentices-one team large and strong, the other small and quick-were running back and forth through the course, using long-handled rackets, stunblasters, and Force telekinesis to pass half a dozen crackling jet-balls to each other through the air. In the midst of the crashing bodies and acrobatic power plays, a single referee was struggling to maintain order.
Motioning Formbi and Mara along, Luke stepped off the slidewalk-then reached out with a mental hand and pulled R2-D2 to his side. Luke did not launch into a description of the game, however; he still had some questions about the trouble the Killiks had caused the Chiss Ascendancy.
“I’m beginning to see why the Ascendancy doesn’t want the Colony encroaching on its frontier,” Luke said. “Were the Killiks also responsible for the destruction of the Empire of the Hand?”