"Alright, here's the plan."
I leaned forward as Roger carried us closer to the Ring.
From this distance, the damage was impossible to miss.
A section of the superstructure was already coming apart.
Entire habitation bands had gone dark.
Several districts burned openly against the black of space, their emergency shielding either failing or already gone.
I pointed toward the Ring.
"Common Vederan knowledge says that thing shouldn't be able to stay in orbit naturally. It's too massive."
Roger continued piloting.
Bolts looked toward the structure.
I kept going.
"Like The Massive, it uses enormous anti-gravity generators to keep the whole structure balanced around the sun."
My PAK pulled up what little public information I'd collected years ago.
Multiple generators positioned around the Ring.
The sort of infrastructure nobody thought about because it had worked for generations.
"If one of those generators goes offline, the surrounding section starts taking more of the load."
I enlarged the schematic.
"If enough compensation fails—or if we destroy one badly enough that the system can't reroute around it—the balance starts collapsing."
Bolts stared at the projection.
"And then?"
I looked toward the sun.
"Then gravity does the rest."
The Ring was already under stress.
Damaged sectors.
Power failures.
Fighting.
An active outbreak.
Systems designed to operate together were being isolated from one another every minute.
Which made it the best possible time for me to destroy one.
"The generator facilities are usually heavily protected."
I zoomed in on the infected region.
"But nobody's operating under normal conditions anymore."
One section of the Ring was visibly burning.
Smaller ships clustered around it.
Others were withdrawing.
"We land close to the outbreak."
Bolts turned toward me.
"Close?"
"Not inside it."
I pointed toward an intact section bordering the compromised zone.
"Close enough that security has more important things to worry about than one small ship."
The chaos worked in our favor.
Every soldier would be watching evacuation routes.
Every automated defense system would be tracking infected movement.
Every surviving commander would be trying to keep civilians alive or stop the infestation from crossing another bulkhead.
A random Irken ship slipping into a maintenance or emergency docking area might not even register as the most important problem in the room.
"We get inside."
"We find one of the main anti-gravity generators."
"And then we destroy it."
Bolts stared at me.
"That's the whole plan?"
"That's the important part."
Roger's optics remained fixed on the approach.
"Objective acknowledged."
I folded my arms.
"If the generator shuts down and stays down, the Ring becomes unstable. Maybe not instantly. Maybe the other systems compensate for a while."
I looked back toward the structure.
"But this thing is already tearing itself apart."
Another distant explosion flashed across the infected section.
"They're fighting a civil war."
"Half their infrastructure is failing."
"The outbreak is spreading."
"And nobody has the manpower to babysit every system at once."
My expression hardened.
"We just need to break the one thing holding part of it together."
The ship continued forward.
The Ring grew larger across the viewport.
I watched it for a long moment.
Then pointed toward the damaged section.
"There."
Roger adjusted course.
A portion of the Ring near the outbreak boundary slowly moved toward the center of the viewport.
"Take us in close."
"Affirmative."
I looked at Bolts.
Then at the silent undead clone standing behind us.
"Once we're inside, we move fast."
"No sightseeing."
"No unnecessary fights."
"We find the generator."
I looked toward the burning superstructure ahead.
"And we make sure it never turns back on."
From the ship, getting inside the Ring turned out to be easier than expected.
Roger hacked into a small docking platform intended for light fighters and maintenance craft.
The bay doors opened.
Roger brought us in.
The moment all four of us stepped onto the platform, I stored the ship back into my inventory.
No reason to leave it sitting somewhere vulnerable.
Then I summoned ten clone corpses.
I raised my hand—
WARNING: Current INT limit reached. Control threshold: 250 / 250. Revive anyway?
I froze. They were still active? All of them?
I pulled my antennae down with both hands.
"You have got to be kidding me."
Two hundred forty-nine undead clones were still somewhere on Verdara hunting whatever they could find.
I couldn't raise more.
Plan B.
I stored the corpses again.
Then summoned the B2s.
One after another, sixteen super battle droids materialized across the docking platform.
Heavy feet struck metal. Weapons rotated.
I arranged them immediately.
Ten in front.
Then the undead clone.
Then me, Roger, and Bolts.
Six B2s in the rear.
I was about to order the undead clone into position when I realized how inconvenient it would be to keep giving him commands without a name.
I pointed at him.
"You're John now."
The blue glow behind his damaged visor remained fixed on me. The undead clone remained silent.
"Congratulations. Get in front of me, John."
He moved without hesitation.
Good enough.
I sent the formation commands through my PAK.
The B2s adjusted.
We approached the docking corridor. The door opened.
The corridor beyond wasn't really a corridor.
It was a transit artery.
Wide enough to carry hundreds of people at once.
Multiple lanes.
High ceiling.
Emergency lighting. Signs directing traffic towards cities, medical stations, transport hubs, and military installations.
Vederans moved everywhere.
Technicians.
Medics.
Soldiers.
Almost no civilians.
This section had probably already been cleared of anyone considered nonessential.
The Vederans themselves were smaller than I remembered.
Short green-skinned humanoids.
Smooth complexions.
Large emerald-colored eyes.
Most barely reached four feet.
Which made the B2s look enormous.
The doors opened.
Everyone nearby stopped.
For perhaps half a second, the entire corridor froze.
A technician stared at the ten hulking droids suddenly standing in front of him.
One B2 moved first.
Its arm swung sideways.
SPLAT.
The impact caught the Vederan across the head.
There was no resistance.
His body dropped while blood sprayed across the wall beside him.
Then the firing started.
Red bolts filled the corridor.
The Vederans scattered.
Soldiers tried raising weapons.
Medics ran.
Technicians dove for cover.
The B2s advanced through all of it.
Slow.
Heavy.
Relentless.
Return fire struck their armor.
Most shots did little more than leave black marks.
The front formation kept walking.
I stayed behind them.
Roger beside me.
Bolts on the other side.
John directly ahead.
We needed directions.
That mattered more than killing everyone in the corridor.
I sent a new order through my PAK.
CAPTURE TECHNICIAN.
The B2s adjusted.
Anyone holding a weapon went down first.
The rest ran.
Eventually only one technician remained close enough to catch.
He had dropped to the floor.
Hands over his head.
Entire body curled inward.
Terrified.
Perfect.
I pointed.
"John."
The undead clone moved.
One massive hand seized the Vederan.
John lifted him with one arm and shoved him against the wall.
The technician's feet left the ground.
He struggled immediately.
Didn't matter.
John barely moved.
I stepped closer.
"YOU'RE GOING TO TELL ME WHERE THE NEAREST ANTI-GRAVITY GENERATOR IS."
The Vederan's eyes went wide.
"I-I-I can't!"
Wrong answer.
My patience was already gone.
Verdara. The monsters. Everything in this solar system had been testing me for days.
I pointed toward the technician.
"John."
The clone looked toward me.
"Eat his arm."
The Vederan started screaming before John even moved.
John shoved his rifle upward with one hand, hitting the base of his helmet to expose his undead mouth.
Then he bit down.
The technician screamed.
John's teeth sank through flesh.
The Vederan twisted violently in his grip.
Could not escape.
I stepped closer.
"WHERE IS THE ANTI-GRAVITY CHAMBER?"
The technician shook his head.
Tears ran down his face.
Still resisting.
I clenched my jaw.
"Keep going."
John bit again, swallowing his first mouth full.
The screaming became worse.
Blood ran down the technician's arm.
Then—
DING. Skill gained: Torture (Lv 1 / 10). - Lowers a victim's resistance to pain.
The technician was sobbing now.
His arm was mangled.
Bicep torn.
Forearm bleeding heavily.
His breathing came in short, broken gasps.
I leaned toward him.
"Location."
His resistance finally broke.
With his remaining hand, he reached shakily into a pocket.
Pulled out a small holographic datapad.
His fingers barely worked.
The projection flickered to life.
A map of the local Ring section appeared.
He zoomed.
Scrolled.
Then marked a location.
Deep inside a reinforced industrial area.
My PAK copied the coordinates immediately.
Good.
That was all I needed.
I looked at John.
"Finish him."
John released the Vederan.
For half a second, the technician sagged against the wall.
Then John's palm struck forward.
The impact ended it immediately.
The body dropped beneath a dark smear on the wall.
I looked at the holographic route now floating inside my vision.
Target acquired.
I pointed down the corridor.
"Move."
The B2s turned.
John pulled his helmet back into place.
Roger and Bolts fell in behind me.
And the formation started forward again.
We moved fast.
The transit artery became a slaughterhouse behind us.
Red bolts punched bodies apart.
Armored fists caved in chests.
One soldier was caught by the throat and driven headfirst into the wall hard enough to leave a dark smear across the metal.
Technicians ran.
Medics screamed.
Anyone who reached for a weapon died first.
John stayed just ahead of me.
One soldier was caught by the throat and driven headfirst into the wall hard enough to leave a dark smear across the metal.
Technicians ran.
Medics screamed.
Anyone who reached for a weapon died first.
John stayed just ahead of me.
Another tried crawling away beneath the crossfire.
A B2 stepped on him without slowing.
Bones cracked beneath its foot.
We kept running.
Emergency lights flashed red across the corridor.
Bodies accumulated near doorways.
Blood streaked the floor.
Every intersection gave us another handful of defenders.
Every intersection ended the same way.
Then the passage widened.
The walls became thicker.
Heavier.
Industrial.
Massive armored doors stood ahead beneath warning symbols and bright Vederan lettering.
My PAK translated the nearest sign.
ANTI-GRAVITY STABILIZATION CHAMBER — AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY
I slowed.
The B2s spread around us.
John raised his rifle.
Beyond those doors, I could feel the vibration of something enormous operating.
A low mechanical hum traveled through the floor. Constant. Powerful.
I looked at the sealed entrance.
"We found it."
The door wasn't opening for us.
Fine.
I drew my lightsaber.
The amethyst blade ignited with a sharp snap-hiss and immediately reflected across the armored surface.
I drove it into the center seam.
The metal resisted for half a second.
Then it began to glow.
I cut downward.
Across.
Back up.
A rectangular section of the reinforced door turned orange around the edges.
A B2 stepped forward and struck it. The cut section collapsed inward with a deafening crash.
I deactivated the saber.
"Move."
The front B2s entered first.
The chamber beyond was enormous. The generator dominated almost all of it. A humongous Orb of machinery with a neon light aesthetic. Thick conduits ran from it in every direction. Banks of equipment lined the walls. Heavy power cables pulsed with light. The entire room vibrated with the steady output of it.
Then—
A sound echoed somewhere far beyond the chamber. Raw. A monstrous screech carried through the structure. The infected weren't far away.
"We're on a clock."
I opened my inventory.
Explosive charges began appearing in my hands.
I passed them out one after another.
B2s. Roger. Bolts. John.
Everyone got something.
"Anything that looks important." I ordered. The group moved immediately. Planting in a large variety of locations on and around the Humongous Orb.
Within minutes, explosives covered the chamber. Enough to turn the entire room into wreckage.
The next objective was simple.
Nearest docking port. Summon the ship. Leave. Then detonate.
We ran.
The nearest docking port was several intersections away, connected by another broad transit artery running through the Ring.
This time most of what came at us still looked Vederan.
Their bodies were still recognizably green-skinned, short, humanoid. But the proportions had started changing. One had an arm swollen twice its normal size, fingers fused together into a blunt claw. Another dragged one leg behind it while the bones of its spine pushed visibly against the skin. Several had split jaws.
They saw us and charged. The B2s opened fire. The front of the formation became a wall of red plasma.
Bodies dropped.
One Vederan with half its face missing reached the first B2 and clawed at its chest plating. The droid caught it by the head and crushed the skull in one hand.
Another infected launched itself from a side passage.
John intercepted it.
His rifle struck its ribs with enough force to fold the torso inward. The thing still grabbed at him. John fired directly into its chest.
We kept moving. No stopping.
More infected poured from maintenance doors.
Dozens now.
Mostly Vederan.
Mostly fresh.
The B2s continued advancing.
One infected climbed onto a droid's back.
Another grabbed its arm.
Then three more piled on.
The B2 did not slow.
It slammed one into the wall.
Crushed another beneath its foot.
Then fired its wrist blaster into the third at point-blank range.
John moved beside it.
He caught one infected around the waist and threw it into another hard enough that both hit the floor tangled together.
Bolts stayed close to me.
Roger kept pace.
The rear B2s fired backward every few seconds as more infected followed.
The sound became constant.
Blaster fire.
Metal footsteps.
The scrape of claws against flooring.
We were moving straight through the middle of it now.
The docking signs appeared overhead.
DOCKING ACCESS
I pointed forward.
"There!"
The formation pushed harder.
The final intersection was packed.
At least thirty infected.
Most still looked like ordinary Vederans at first glance.
Until they moved.
One had both arms bent backward at the elbows and ran on all fours. Another dragged exposed organs behind it and never slowed.
The B2s fired until the corridor filled with smoke.
Then the infected reached them.
The front line became hand-to-hand.
Metal fists broke bone.
Bodies struck walls.
John disappeared into the mass for several seconds.
Then reappeared dragging one infected by the throat.
He slammed it down.
Stomped once.
Kept moving.
The B2s forced open a path.
We reached the docking bay.
I could see open space beyond the docking port entrance.
No ship.
Good.
I opened my inventory.
WHUMP.
The Irken vessel materialized onto the docking platform.
The Canopy opened.
"GO!"
Roger climbed aboard first.
Bolts followed.
John climbed in after him.
One foot inside.
Then the other.
I turned.
The Canopy began closing.
And something seized me.
The pressure hit my entire body at once.
My feet left the floor.
I flew backward.
Hard.
Out of the ship.
Back into the docking corridor.
The Canopy kept closing behind me.
I hit the ground and rolled.
My lightsaber skidded away.
I looked up.
At the far end of the corridor stood another Vederan.
Nine feet tall.
Broad.
Distorted.
Burning red eyes fixed directly on me.
One arm was extended.
Fingers spread.
The Force pressed around me like an invisible fist.
And then it pulled again.
Before the pull reached me, I felt its intent.
The Force tightened around my body—
And I shoved back.
The two telekinetic attacks collided between us.
For a fraction of a second, the air itself seemed to compress.
Then both forces collapsed.
I stayed on my feet.
The creature did too.
The B2s reacted first.
Heavy footsteps hammered against the deck as they rushed forward.
Blasters opened.
Red bolts filled the corridor.
The monster raised one hand.
Not toward them.
Toward their weapons.
Several B2 arms twisted violently sideways.
Droid fired into droid.
The formation tore itself apart.
Heavy blaster bolts punched through armor at point-blank range.
Delicate internal components disappeared beneath molten metal.
Within seconds, sixteen repaired B2s were collapsing around the corridor in pieces.
I stared.
Every single one.
Gone.
For half a second, I considered running.
The docking bay was behind me.
The ship was close.
I could leave.
Then I saw my lightsaber lying farther down the corridor.
I wasn't leaving that.
The creature didn't give me time to think further.
It charged.
A destroyed B2 rose from the floor.
Telekinesis hurled the wreckage toward me.
I dove aside.
The heavy body crashed where I'd been standing.
Another came immediately after.
I rolled.
Metal exploded against the wall.
My pistol appeared in my hand.
I fired.
Pink plasma crossed the corridor.
The creature raised its palm.
The shot changed direction inches before impact.
PEW!
It struck the wall. Deflected.
I fired again.
Same result.
The monster never stopped running.
Then it reached me.
Its fist moved.
The Force moved with it.
I barely saw the punch.
I felt the impact.
CRACK.
Something broke inside my chest.
Pain ripped through my ribs as I left the ground.
I hit the deck several meters away and slid.
Force Heal reacted almost instinctively.
Warm pressure spread through my chest.
Enough to let me breathe.
I pushed myself upright.
The creature was already there.
Its fist came down.
Precognition flashed.
I moved.
The strike hit the floor.
Metal dented.
Another punch.
I twisted away.
Another.
I ducked.
My lightsaber.
I turned.
Ran.
The weapon lay several meters away.
The creature followed.
I reached toward it.
The Force caught the hilt.
It flew into my hand.
SNAP-HISS.
Amythest light filled the corridor.
I turned just as the monster lunged.
My blade cut toward its chest.
Stopped. Three inches away.
Telekinesis locked around the blade.
I pushed.
The lightsaber trembled in the air.
Then I pulled it back.
Swung again.
The creature caught it again.
Another swing. Stopped.
Each strike came closer than the last.
But every time—
Invisible pressure seized the weapon just before contact.
The monster was learning.
And I was losing ground.
Step.
Swing.
Stop.
Step back.
Swing.
Stop.
The creature kept advancing.
Then blue bolts struck its back.
PEW! PEW! PEW!
The monster jerked.
More shots hit.
I looked past it.
John.
Standing farther down the corridor.
Rifle raised.
Firing steadily.
The monster spun.
One hand snapped toward him.
The Force hit John like a truck.
His body left the ground.
He crossed the corridor and slammed into the wall hard enough to dent it.
He dropped.
The distraction lasted less than a second.
Enough.
I swung.
The lightsaber passed through the monster's wrist.
Clean.
The severed hand hit the floor. The creature roared.
It attacked anyway.
No hesitation.
No retreat.
Its remaining hand continued controlling my blade.
The stump of its severed wrist lifted.
The Force still answered it.
I swung toward its neck.
Stopped.
Toward its torso.
Stopped.
It caught the blade each time.
Then the creature moved inside my guard.
Its remaining hand seized my arm.
I tried pulling away.
Too late.
Its mouth opened.
Teeth closed around my hand.
Pain exploded.
CRUNCH.
I screamed.
The creature tore backward.
My hand disappeared into its mouth.
Blood sprayed across its face.
For one second I stared at the end of my arm.
Then rage replaced everything.
I thrust my remaining hand forward.
"GET OFF ME!"
The Force detonated between us.
The creature flew backward.
It hit the wall hard enough to cave part of the structure inward.
Metal folded around its body.
It dropped.
Then stood immediately.
Still coming.
My missing hand burned.
Force Heal was already trying to stop the bleeding.
I tightened my remaining grip on the lightsaber.
One hand.
That was enough.
The monster charged again.
I swung.
It caught the blade.
I pulled free.
Swung again.
Caught.
Again.
Caught.
Every movement became desperate.
The lightsaber screamed through the air.
The monster's telekinesis stopped it inches from flesh again and again.
Then John returned.
I didn't even see him get up.
One moment the monster was in front of me.
The next, John appeared behind it.
Both undead arms wrapped around one of its.
He pulled.
The monster turned.
Too slow.
John twisted.
SNAP.
The arm broke at the elbow.
The creature roared.
Its concentration faltered.
My blade moved.
I cut through one leg above the knee.
The limb separated.
The creature collapsed sideways.
I stepped forward.
Raised the lightsaber.
Went for the neck.
The blade descended—
And stopped.
Again.
Even on the floor.
Missing one hand. One broken arm. One leg.
It still caught the blade with the Force.
The lightsaber trembled inches above its throat.
I pushed down.
It pushed back.
Then John stepped into view.
The monster looked toward him.
Too late.
John lifted his boot.
Then slammed down into the creature violently.
Heel over head.
The Vederan crashed deeper into the deck.
John followed it down.
One massive boot came down against the skull.
Once.
The creature moved.
Again.
The skull cracked.
Again.
It stopped.
The pressure holding my lightsaber vanished.
I stood there breathing hard.
One hand gone.
Ribs still knitting.
Blood running down my arm.
Destroyed B2s scattered throughout the corridor.
John stood over the ruined body.
Silent.
Blue light leaking through the cracks in his visor.
The monster didn't move again.