Star Wars_ Darth Bane 01_ Path of Destruction - Drew Karpyshyn [57]
At first Kaan suspected it was a trap, some elaborate scheme arranged by the wily Hoth to ensnare and destroy his sworn enemy. But if it was a trap, it had never been sprung. The Sith were pressing in from all sides; they were almost sitting on the doorstep of Coruscant itself. And the Jedi had all but vanished, seemingly having deserted the Republic in its time of greatest need.
He should have been ecstatic. Without the Jedi, the war was as good as over. The Republic would fall in a matter of months, and the Sith would rule. But where had the Jedi gone? Kaan didn’t like it. The strange message Kopecz had sent just a few hours earlier had only added to his unease. The Twi’lek was coming to meet Nightfall with urgent news about Ruusan, news he wouldn’t transmit across regular channels. News so important he felt he had to deliver it in person.
“An interceptor has just docked in Nightfall’s landing bay, Lord Kaan,” one of the bridge crew reported.
Despite his anxiousness to hear Kopecz’s news, Lord Kaan resisted the urge to go down to the landing bay to meet him. He felt something had gone very, very wrong, and it was important to maintain an appearance of calm assurance before his troops. Yet patience was not a virtue many of the Sith Lords possessed, and he couldn’t keep himself from pacing as he waited for the Twi’lek to make his way to the bridge and deliver his ominous report.
After what seemed like hours but was no more than a few minutes, Kopecz finally arrived. His expression did nothing to alleviate Kaan’s growing apprehension as he crossed the bridge and gave a perfunctory bow.
“I must speak with you in private, Lord Kaan.”
“You may speak here,” Kaan assured him. “What we say will not leave this ship.” The bridge crew of Nightfall had been handpicked by Kaan himself. All had sworn an oath to serve with absolute loyalty; they knew the harsh consequences should they break that oath.
Kopecz glanced suspiciously around the bridge, but the crew were all focused on their stations. None of them seemed even to notice him. “We’ve lost Ruusan,” he said, whispering despite Kaan’s assurances. “The base set up on the surface, the orbiting fleet … all of it wiped out!”
For a moment Kaan didn’t speak. When he did his voice had dropped to the same level as Kopecz’s. “How did this happen? We have spies throughout the Republic military. All their fleets have fallen back to the Core. All of them! They couldn’t possibly have mustered enough strength to take back Ruusan. Not without us knowing!”
“It wasn’t the Republic,” Kopecz replied. “It was the Jedi. Hundreds of them. Thousands. Jedi Masters, Jedi Knights, Jedi Padawans: an entire army of Jedi.”
Kopecz cursed loudly. None of the crew so much as glanced in his direction, a testament to their training and their fear of their commander.
“Lord Hoth realized that the strength of the Jedi order was spread too thin trying to defend the Republic,” Kopecz continued. “He’s gathered them all into a single host with only one goal: destroy the users of the dark side. They don’t care about our soldiers and fleets anymore. All they want to do is wipe us out: the apprentices, the acolytes, the Sith Masters … and especially the Dark Lords. Lord Hoth himself is leading them,” the Twi’lek added, though Kaan had already guessed this for himself. “They call themselves the Army of Light.”
Kopecz paused to let the news sink in. Kaan took several deep breaths, silently reciting the Code of the Sith to bring his whirling thoughts back into focus.
And then he laughed. “An Army of Light to oppose the Brotherhood of Darkness.”
Kopecz stared at him with a bewildered expression.
“Hoth knows the Jedi aren’t capable of defeating our vast armies,” Kaan explained. “Not anymore. The Republic is doomed. So now he concentrates exclusively