“Do you yield?” Loden tried to draw more strength from Bell, from the pilot of the Vector, from every Jedi in the field. It was all he could do to stay upright, his heels against the edge of the hatch, the storm raging at his back.

“Will I get a fair trial?”

“Of course.”

The Nihil leader seemed to consider this for a moment, before bringing his hands together, as if expecting Loden to clap him in binders. Loden glanced down at the proffered wrists, momentarily confused. What did Ro think he was? Of course, that was his mistake. This was the trick.

Needle-sharp hypodermics sprang from devices on both of Ro’s wrists, the ends glistening with poison. Ro lunged forward, slashing not at Loden’s blade but at the hilt in his hand. At any other time, Loden would have been able to react, to bring his lightsaber around, to sever whatever was jutting out from Ro’s wrists, but the ravages of recent months and the energy expended in his escape finally proved too much. Loden could only jump back, avoiding the needle points. During his confinement, he’d often thought that Ro was poison; now he knew it as a fact. All it would’ve taken was a nick. Just one nick. But the Force had shown him the danger, had saved him. It was just a pity it hadn’t warned him as he jumped back into thin air.

Loden’s eyes went wide as he toppled back, his arms windmilling, the lightsaber he’d only just recovered slipping from his fingers. And then he was falling with the rain. Above, he caught a glimpse of Ro peering over the edge, watching him tumble away. He imagined the hypodermics snapping back into place and then the Nihil was suddenly gone, vanished in a blaze of scarlet light as the approaching Vector unloaded its laser cannons into the open hatch.

Loden called on the Force to slow his descent, but this time the Force didn’t answer. He had exhausted what little strength he had. He was finished.


Star Wars The High Republic The Rising Storm Chapter 71