Han activated the intercom. “Somebody back there get to the repulsor beam now! We’ve got some rocks to move out of-“
“Han, no!” Leia opened her eyes and turned to him, shaking her head. “We have to surrender!”
Han frowned. “Look, I know the yoke’s a little sloppy-“
“It’s not that.” Leia reached over and pulled the throttles all the way back. “It’s Raynar and the Killiks-those moons are teeming with insects!”
EIGHTEEN
The Jedi StealthXs appeared-as always-as though by magic, an entire wing of dark X’s hanging against the crimson veil of the Utegetu Nebula. They floated there for just an instant, then drifted over to the black ribbon of a stellar dust cloud and vanished, darkness merging into darkness. It all happened so quickly that any picket ship pilots who happened to be looking in that direction would blink, question what they had seen, and check their instruments. And their instruments would assure them that their eyes had been mistaken.
The StealthXs continued their approach in full confidence that they remained undetected, and soon the bright disk of the yellow planet Sarm began to swell in the forward panels of their cockpit canopies. The Jedi pilots kept a careful watch for sentries-both on their sensor screens and by reaching out in the Force-and easily avoided a single inattentive blastboat operated by pirates. The StealthXs reached Sarm unobserved … and unsettled. The Jedi knew better than to underestimate a foe-especially during a war. The Killiks would not leave themselves exposed like this without good reason.
As the wing drew nearer the yellow planet, a network of ancient, world-spanning irrigation canals grew visible on the surface-all that remained of the beings who had inhabited Sarm before being blasted from the galactic memory by the Utegetu Nova. The Jedi had time to ponder those channels as they closed on their destination, reflecting on the destiny of civilizations in a violent universe, glimpsing the anonymous end to which every culture ultimately came. What did battles matter when a galactic burp could erase whole civilizations? Could any amount of killing ever change the fundamental brutal transience of existence?
Perhaps the Killiks knew the answers. After all, they lived in harmony with the Song of the Universe, killing and being killed as the melody demanded, abounding and vanishing, fighting and dancing as the mood moved them. They did not concern themselves with right or wrong, feelings of love and hate. They served the nest. What benefited the nest, they desired. What hurt the nest, they exterminated.
Not so with the Jedi. They struggled with their fates, worried over whether something was moral or immoral, peered into the future and tried to bend it to their desires. And then, when their grasps slipped and the future snapped back in their faces with all the force of an impacting meteor, they were always so surprised, always so shaken, as though their wills should have been strong enough to steer the course of the galaxy.
And so the Jedi continued toward Sarm in their StealthXs, silent and grim of purpose, readying themselves to kill and be killed, to sing in their own way the Song of the Universe. Their targets came into view just as Admiral Bwua’tu’s intelligence officer had promised, eleven pale spheres in orbit around the planet, each the size of a Super-class Star Destroyer, all but one enveloped by the diffuse Force presence of a Killik nest.
The StealthXs swung wide around the planet, positioning themselves to descend on the nest ship with no Force presence. It was in the lowest orbit, where it would be screened from attack by the rest of the fleet. That was the Dark Nest’s vessel, the one where Lomi Plo would be hiding, and Luke’s plan was simple. The Jedi would sneak into position around the vessel and wait for Admiral Pellaeon to arrive with the Megador and the rest of the Alliance strike fleet. When he did, they would destroy any craft attempting to leave the Gorog nest, and then they would go inside and flush Lomi Plo from her den.
But Sarm was too quiet. There should have been smugglers and membrosia runners flitting in and out of the nest ship hangars, and an entire flotilla of pirate vessels hanging in orbit. There should have been maintenance barges hovering over the nest ships, repairing the damage the Jedi had inflicted at the Murgo Choke. Instead, the fleet looked almost abandoned. Save for the presences they felt in the Force, the Jedi would have believed it was.
Then blue halos of ion efflux appeared around the sterns of the nest ships, and the vessels began to accelerate. Now the Jedi understood the reason Sarm was so quiet. The Killiks had already repaired their battered fleet. They were breaking orbit and deploying to challenge the Alliance blockade.
Luke dropped into a power dive, swinging wide around two nest ships to avoid the sharp eyes of the Killik sentries. Mara and Jacen and the other Jedi followed close behind, grasping the change of plan through their combat-meld. Kenth Hamner took his squadron and circled back behind the first two nest ships, decelerating so their attack would hit at the same time as Luke’s. Kyle Katarn’s squadron peeled off and started for the far side of the planet. Tresina Lobi and her squadron broke in the opposite direction, heading for the front of the Killik fleet.