Star Wars_ Darth Bane 02_ Rule of Two - Drew Karpyshyn [21]
“Leave him,” Bane said, turning on his heel. “He is nothing to us.”
Zannah quickly fell into step beside him as they made their way from the chamber and began the long, slow climb through the tunnels back to Ruusan’s surface. Bane noted with satisfaction that even though Tomcat’s pitiful sobs echoed after them, his apprentice never once glanced back.
5
Prepare for reentry turbulence,” Irtanna warned them from the pilot’s seat of their shuttle. With a crew of only five, she had no need to use the shipboard intercom. She simply spoke loud enough for everyone aboard to hear.
Although the Envoy-class shuttle carried only a handful of passengers, she was capable of comfortably transporting four times that many. The ship had been absorbed into the Jedi fleet sometime during the last few weeks of the Ruusan campaign, donated by an anonymous benefactor from Coruscant who had been charmed by Farfalla’s urgent plea for resources to support the war effort. Christened the Star-Wake, she was a product of Tallaan Shipyards, a basic transport vessel capable of both suborbital flight and interstellar travel, thanks to her Class Twelve hyperdrive.
The fact that she had been pressed into service was proof of just how desperate the Army of Light had become. Envoy-class shuttles were known for being practical and affordable, making them a favorite choice of independent merchants and wealthy recreational travelers. Their most distinguishing feature was an easy-to-use navigation and autopilot system, allowing users to plot and engage hyperdrive routes to hundreds of known worlds across the Republic with a simple push of a button. Unfortunately they lacked heavy shielding or any significant armament, and were neither particularly fast nor maneuverable.
Johun would have preferred something in a more military vein; he doubted the autonav would be any use should a Sith Buzzard suddenly appear on the horizon. Logically, he knew this was highly unlikely. Every Buzzard in Kaan’s fleet had been accounted for: either shot down, captured by the Army of Light, or seen fleeing the system at the tail end of the final battle. But scores of danger-filled flights through enemy-controlled airspace in the months before their ultimate victory had trained his mind to be on constant alert when approaching the planet’s surface. From the way Irtanna was white-knuckling the shuttle’s steering column, he knew he wasn’t alone in his irrational fears.
There was the faintest bump as they passed from the cold vacuum of space into the upper layers of Ruusan’s atmosphere and began their descent. Irtanna worked the controls with a confident hand, making subtle adjustments to their course as Johun studied the scanners skimming the ground below them, looking for signs of life. Four other craft were visible on the ship’s monitors. Like the Star-Wake, each was crewed by a four- to six-person rescue team sent by Farfalla to help clean up the aftermath of the war.
“We’ve got movement on the ground,” Johun called out as unidentified blips popped up on his screen. “Transmitting coordinates.”
“Give me details,” Irtanna ordered, banking the shuttle around in a wide arc that brought them in line with the people on the ground.
“Two walkers on foot,” Johun informed her. “Can’t tell if they’re friendly from up here.”
“Taking us down,” Irtanna replied.
Locating and helping injured survivors was the team’s first priority; providing reconnaissance reports to Fleet Command came second, and