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In a single blurred movement she switched on her lightsaber and slashed.

The Jedi blade severed the business end of the blaster, leaving only a smoldering lump.

Then Raynar threw his rock with Force-enhanced power, hitting the guard hard in the stomach and knocking him backward toward the rocky ledge.

His gloved hands clawed at the rocks, trying to catch his balance, but to no avail.

The jagged edges ripped open his suit, and the guard's wall echoed inside his reflective helmet as he toppled over the side.

Hovrak called the rest of his team to a halt, shouting for them to retreat to the side of the ledge. Then, targeting on Jaina's glowing light saber, the guards fired into the grotto shadows, from a protected position.

Trapped like a womp rat in a box canyon, Jaina swung her lightsaber to deflect the blaster bolts. Raynar crouched at the back of the crevice to keep out of the way, hurling an occasional rock at their unseen enemies.

Jaina clenched her jaw and fought wth all of her Jedi skills not daring to trust her dazzled eyes on the heat-washed ledge.

The silver-suited guards fired repeatedly. "Shall we set to stun?" one of them said.

"No, just kill her," Hovrak said. "And the other one too."

One of the three remaining guards blasted away at the mass of solid rock overhanging the crevice entrance. After volley upon volley, the overhang began to glow red with the heat it had absorbed.

Hovrak growled in anticipation. "Keep firing! They have no defense against us."

When Jaina stepped forward to deflect the new volley of fire, Raynar popped out of his shadowy shelter. He hefted another sharpwedged rock, then hurled it with perfect aim, so that it struck Hovrak's faceplate and cracked the reflectorized transparisteel. Raynar ducked back into hiding as the wolfman roared, stumbled backward, and barely regained his balance on the ledge.

One of the guards focused on Jaina and fired, ignoring the other activity around him. She deflected the shot, using her dazzling blade to knock the blaster bolt back to its source. The energy bolt caught the guard full in the chest and left a smoking hole in his reflective suit.

Mortally wounded, the guard gasped and gargled, then slumped off the fiery cliffside.

Hovrak now had only two guards remaining.

"You'll need more help than this to defeat a Jedi Knight," Jaina shouted defiantly. Her throat burned; her cracked lips were bleeding; crusty salt from evaporated perspiration sparkled on her skin--but she was entirely focused on the battle now, flowing with the Force.

Hovrak snarled, uncomfortable now that his faceplate was broken. The outside air felt too hot to breathe, despite the suit's laboring airconditioning units. "Soon we won't need to worry about humans ever again," he taunted them.

"When the Diversity Alliance gets hold of the Emperor's plague, every one of you will die, from one end of the galaxy to the other."

"You'll die first," Jaina shouted back, stifling her horror at the plan Hovrak had just revealed.

Now she knew what Nolaa Tarkona had intended all along.

Raynar threw rock after sharp rock at Hovrak and the guards. They stopped trying to melt the overhang and turned their blaster fire at him, but Raynar dodged away, drawing agility from the Force.

In frustration, the last two guards fired again.

With no place to run, Jaina and Raynar stood at the edge of the narrow path, far from the temperate zone in the mountains where Lowie had planned to rescue them.

On every side, sharp black boulders blocked any hope of escape.

Jaina stepped slightly in front of Raynar. She was willing to fight to the death. She saw no other choice....

The Lightning Rod shot out of hyperspace, emerging as close to Ryloth's gravity well as Zekk's daring calculations would allow. Luke Sky-walker sat in the copilot's seat, glad to be along on this rescue mission.

The ship streaked toward the atmosphere like a comet, broadcasting the access code Lusa had supplied, but not bothering