Loden replaced his comlink in his belt and walked toward the burning remains of their Vanguard. The vehicle’s two halves were now separated by several meters, shards of debris scattered amid the open space between them. He stopped near what was once the driver’s compartment.

“What are you doing?” Bell asked.

“The internal systems on the Vanguard are hardened against attack. In theory, you can blast a thousand holes in one and the wheels will keep turning. Now, this poor V-Wheel isn’t going anywhere ever again, but maybe it can still make itself useful…”

He lifted his hand, and a long metal panel on the front of the wrecked Vanguard began to vibrate, lifting away slightly from the rest of the machine.

“Help me, Padawan,” he said. “This thing’s on tight.”

Bell lifted his own hand, and the blackened metal panel tore free, flying backward and skittering across the ground. Loden bent and peered into the Vanguard’s inner workings.

“Mm,” he said. “Looks intact.”

He gestured with his hand, closing it into a fist, and Bell heard the sound of metal bending and snapping from inside the engine compartment—little spangs as of thin clasps being stressed beyond endurance.

Loden reached into the machine and withdrew a metal tube about a meter and a half in length, with a sort of wire basket on one end containing a compact power module. Wires stretched and pulled as he lifted the assembly out, electronics connected to a flat metal panel dangling below the tube as he freed it from the Vanguard.


Star Wars The High Republic Light of the Jedi Chapter 25