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She coiled her fibercord before returning it and the grappling hook to her belt. Then, with her single muscular arm, she held up her rancor-tooth lightsaber and ignited it.

Beside her towered Lowbacca, ginger fur standing on end, dark lips peeled back to reveal fangs. The Wookiee used both hands to grip his clublike lightsaber with its molten bronze blade.

Surprised to see unexpected enemies, stormtroopers on the battle platform marched forward with blasters drawn, confident of their victory.

Em Teedee wailed. "Oh dear, Master Lowbacca-perhaps we should have planned this attack a bit more thoroughly."

Lowie snarled, but Tenel Ka stood tall, her confidence unshaken. "The Force is with us," she said. "This is a fact."

A single TIE bomber swooped overhead, dropping proton torpedoes into the forests.

The sounds of blaster fire ricocheted around them.

On the raised command deck of the battle platform, the Nightsister Tamith Kai stood in her black cloak like a preening bird of prey. She turned, her midnight hair writhing around her head with static electricity, her wine-dark lips curled in a sneer. Tenel Ka and Lowie took three brave steps toward the waiting stormtroopers.

One of the white-armored soldiers, apparently nervous at seeing the two young Jedi Knights, fired his blaster-and Tenel Ka whipped her energy blade across to intersect the incoming energy bolt, deflecting it into the sky.

Then, by unspoken agreement, she and Lowie charged forward, yelling. They slashed with their lightsabers so furiously that though the stormtroopers sent out a volley of blaster fire, they were thrown into chaos. Lowie and Tenel Ka forced their way through them like a whirlwind.

On the command deck above, Tamith Kai strode forward to gaze down at the skirmish. "The girl is mine. I'll crush her heart myself," she said.

Tenel Ka slashed once more with her lightsaber, taking out another charging stormtrooper. She turned. Her heart thudded, but her breath came slow and even. Her muscles sang. She was prepared for this fight, sure of her physical abilities. This would be her best battle ever.

"That leaves all the other stormtroopers for you, Lowie," she said, springing up onto the command deck to meet her nemesis.

The young Wookiee roared his readiness, though Em Teedee did not sound quite as courageous. "Please be cautious, Master Lowbacca. It wouldn't be wise to get delusions of grandeur."

The stormtroopers pressed forward, fifteen against one gangly young Wookiee.

Lowbacca didn't seem to think the odds were too bad.

Tenel Ka stood before the Nightsister, holding herself tall and proud, her turquoise lightsaber in front of her. She remembered the first time she had taken the evil woman by surprise and nearly crippled her. "So, how is your knee, Tamith Kai?" The Nightsister's violet eyes flashed, and she shook her head mockingly. "You not surrender now, weakling girl?" she said.

"This is hardly a worthwhile test of my abilities. Ha! A one-armed child who dares to think she can be a threat to me."

"You talk too much," Tenel Ka said. 'Or do you intend to use your foul breath as a weapon against me?"

"You have been around those twin Jedi brats too long," Tamith Kai said.

"You've learned disrespect for your superiors." The Nightsister jabbed the air with her fingers and sent a bolt of blue-black lightning toward the warrior girl from Dathomir.

"I see no one here who is my superior, Tenel Ka said, intercepting the lightning bolts with her lightsaber blade. Then she used the Force to build her own positive thoughts and feelings, which she pulled around her like a shield. The Nightsister retreated a step, taken aback.

Down one level, Lowbacca slashed with his bronze lightsaber in one hand while picking up a white-armored figure with his other. He tossed the stormtrooper into three other attackers, knocking them all down.

The Imperial soldiers were crowded too closely together to use their blasters. They seemed intent on taking down the angry Wookiee through the sheer force of their own numbers.

It was a big mistake.