As soon as Deva and Vernestra emerged from hyperspace, it was clear that something had changed. Orbiting the planet in at least twenty dense lines were Nihil scav droids. They formed a noticeable grid system above the planet, kilometers apart but flying equally as fast as a ship running on sublight engines.

“We have a problem,” Vernestra said. Deva had demanded she fly while the Shani got some sleep. Vernestra had readily agreed. It had been a while since she’d flown, and she’d enjoyed the feeling of freedom it brought.

The scav droids were a stark reminder that any sense of freedom in Nihil-controlled space was an illusion. Deva climbed off the nearby berth—the ship was so small, it didn’t even have a proper name—and leaned over Vernestra’s shoulder to look out the viewscreen.

“Schotka,” Deva swore under her breath. “That is indeed a problem. A very big one.”

“Can we outrun them?” Vernestra asked, standing when Deva gestured for her to give up the pilot seat.

“We cannot. But what we can do is try to punch through and hope we can reach the atmosphere before they scavenge too much of the ship.”

“You can’t be serious—” Vernestra began, but Deva was already revving the engines to full power and pointing toward a larger square in the grid.

“If you can use some Jedi Force magic to keep them away from us, that would be great,” Deva said. “Otherwise, hold on.”

Deva pointed the ship into a dive, and the engines whined as they took off, the momentum of the movement causing Vernestra to stumble where she stood. She looked through the viewscreen and tried to see where the scav droids were, but she couldn’t spot a single one.

Then the sound of clanging came from all around them as the droids attached to the ship. Vernestra closed her eyes and pushed, knocking off a few even though she couldn’t see them, using the sensation of knowing they were there to repel them. But no sooner had she shoved a few away than new droids landed with the same hollow clanking sound.

“I can keep trying to clear them, but at this rate I won’t be able to do anything else,” Vernestra called to Deva. It was exhausting to use the Force that way, and there were far too many scav droids for her to keep them clear. The Shani put the ship into a vicious roll, the blue on Seswenna swinging wildly in the viewscreen.


Star Wars The High Republic Defy the Storm Chapter 33