Star Wars_ Darth Bane 02_ Rule of Two - Drew Karpyshyn [24]
The woman raised an eyebrow and gave him a skeptical glance. The slight young man widened his stance, placed his hands on his hips, and thrust out his chest, hoping it would make him appear noble and impressive. He tried to project the image of confident self-assurance he’d often admired in Hoth and the other Masters.
The man grabbed Johun by the arm, tugging it like a child clinging to his mother’s apron. “We have to get off this planet,” he said, the words coming out in a terrified whisper. “We have to go now!”
Johun shook free of the man’s grasp with only minor difficulty. There was something unsettling about this whole encounter. From the way these two were dressed, it was clear they were experienced soldiers for hire. He suspected they were deserters from the recent battle—minions of the Sith who had fled the instant the Army of Light had broken their ranks. But their flight would have been an act of opportunistic preservation rather than fear or cowardice. Still, these combat veterans, accustomed to facing death and bloodshed, were acting like traumatized villagers after a slaver raid.
“Even if you are a Jedi, you can’t save us,” the woman muttered with a slow shake of her head. “You can’t protect us from him.”
“Who?” Johun wanted to know. “Who are you talking about?”
The man glanced around quickly, as if he was afraid someone might be listening. “A Dark Lord of the Sith,” he hissed.
“One of the Brotherhood?” Johun asked, barely able to contain his eagerness. “Are you saying a Sith Master survived the thought bomb?”
The man nodded. “He killed Lergan and Hansh. Fried them with lightning from his fingers.”
I knew it! Johun thought triumphantly. I knew it!
“He had a lightsaber, too,” the woman added. “Sliced Pad and Derrin wide open.” She hesitated for a moment, shuddering at the memory. “Rell got his head cut clean off.”
Johun was about to ask for more details, but the sound of a rapidly approaching ship momentarily distracted him. He glanced up to see a Bivouac troop transport swooping in for a landing. Seconds after it touched down, three Republic soldiers jumped out, weapons at the ready. He recognized the senior officer in the trio: Major Orten Ledes, one of the highest-ranking non-Jedi in the Army of Light’s Second Legion.
“These the prisoners?” the major asked gruffly, pointing his blaster rifle at the mercenaries.
Johun nodded. Ledes gave a tilt of his head, and his subordinates moved in quickly to slap restraints on the enemy soldiers. Neither made any attempt to resist. Once their wrists were secured they were frisked and stripped of their weapons, then marched off toward the vessel. The whole encounter was conducted with the efficiency and competence that were the hallmarks of all troops serving under Major Ledes’s command.
“You picked up Irtanna’s message?” Johun asked as he watched the Sith minions being led away.
“We were in the area,” the officer replied. “Farfalla sent me to come get you.”
Something in his tone caught the young Jedi’s attention. “Am I in trouble?”
The officer shrugged. “Hard to say. You Jedi tend to keep a tight rein on your emotions. But I bet the general wasn’t too happy when he found out you disobeyed a direct order and snuck down here.”
“Don’t worry,” Johun replied confidently. “He’ll change his tune when he hears what those prisoners have to tell him.”
Bane throttled back the swoop bike’s engine as they approached the small clearing that served as the Valcyn’s landing site. Originally presented as a gift to Lord Qordis, the vessel had been commandeered by Bane when he left the Academy on Korriban to seek out the knowledge of the ancient Sith. Qordis had never dared to try to take it back, and his cowardice had simply confirmed Bane’s decision to abandon his studies and turn his back on the Brotherhood.
He brought the swoop to a stop twenty meters from the ship. Zannah released her grip on his waist and jumped off, then stood staring at the vessel.
Bane wasn’t paying attention to her; the last ten minutes he’d had trouble focusing on anything