A shuttle was coming in at an acute angle—a very acute angle—streaming columns of black smoke, its engines venting streaks of flame that ignited the surrounding trees like dry tinder. Scav droids clung to what was left of its hull, still grinding, cutting, and dissecting the vessel, limpetlike, even as it plowed through the air on its final, deadly descent.

The heat was already intense. Hot ash was billowing around them like flakes of drifting snow.

She heard Viess bellow at the top of her lungs. The Nihil marauders were scattering among the trees or trying to run for their speeders, but they were too late.

...

The shuttle struck with the force of a small bomb, causing the ground to rupture around the site of the impact. The resulting wave of rumpled dirt struck the fleeing Nihil like a wall, crushing those that hadn’t already been incinerated by the initial explosion.

...

At the other end of the clearing, the few Nihil survivors were picking themselves up, staggering to and fro like they were lost. A massive, burning crater steamed in their midst, the broken shards of the shuttle jutting from the ragged ground.

Avar ignited her lightsaber. Viess gritted her teeth.

And then something else fell from the sky.

The figure was dressed in black and carried a bright-blue lightsaber in his right fist. He landed with a deftness that belied his broad build, using the Force to slow his descent.

He’d fallen from the burning sky. Bailed from the crashing shuttle.

A Jedi.

An Ikkrukkian, with two matching bulges erupting from his forehead, a wild gray beard, and a neat patch covering his left eye. He was wearing a small pack, slung over his shoulder.

“Porter?” blurted Avar, unable to contain her credulity.

“Avar! Sorry I’m late to the party. Looks like I’ve missed the fun.”

Star Wars The High Republic The Eye of Darkness Chapter 51