The hulk of the Star Destroyer jutted from the sand like the bleached skeleton of a gargantuan beast, now long extinct. All around it, warped and whitened by the unrelenting sun, lay the bones of similar wrecks. Even so, in this scorched desert graveyard, a speck of life found its way into the shade of the Inflictor’s gaping exhaust ports. The Pau’an, leaning against the ancient durasteel, let himself slide to the ground. Sweat streaked through the fine dust that covered his grey skin, and his breath came dry and heavy through cracked lips. And yet he knew he couldn’t rest for long.
The data held by the scanner on his belt both pulled him to return to Kiast and pushed him to leave Jakku. He had set off expecting this to be another wasted reconnaissance mission, but instead what he had found could be the key to victory for Odan-Urr; it could end the all-out war before it even started.
Korroth shook his head. He could not allow himself the luxury of that assumption. First the data had to be processed by SeNet, and before that he had to get it to SeNet. That was no guarantee given the Sith creature that had been on his tail since he had scouted Inquisitorius hideout. And yet...it wasn’t just the scanner’s findings that fuelled his speculations. The presence he had sensed in that outpost—like a cold star radiating hatred and malice—was too alike the one every Odanite had felt that day on New Tython. Just thinking about what he had seen through the Force sent a chill down his spine, almost as if he could sense that same presence now.
The Odanite shot to his feet—it was not his imagination. No, he thought. Similar, but not the same. It’s more focused, feral, like a predator starved of prey. He knew that presence well by now. The creature had chased him through the desert, always staying at the edge of his Force–imparted perception. Now Korroth was determined to resolve it one way or the other. Either he kept running to face certain death in the desert, or he turned to face his hunter and put his trust in the Force. The Jedi extracted his hilt from the folds of his tabard, the emerald blade spilling out of the emitter. The metal felt cool on his palms; if he had left it on his belt, under the sun, it would likely have been hot enough to cook his hand.
The creature drew closer in the Force. A puff of sand went up from behind the carcass of a downed Y-wing, followed by the leaping, howling black-clad form of the hunter. His cerulean blade rammed into the sand where Korroth had stood an instant before, but the Kaleesh did not squander his impetus. He fell into a roll and swung his taloned lightsaber in a low arch. The Odanite jumped to avoid it, but that meant his stance was poorly grounded when he received the Inquisitor’s third blow. Azure crashed on viridian like freak lightning. The impact jarred Korroth to the bone, almost knocking the hilt from his hands.
The Pathfinder’s attempts to twist and weave away were to no avail as the Kaleesh followed through with several focused battering attacks. Korroth had to take back the initiative if he was to survive. He shook his mind out of the shock of the ferocious assault and ducked low, thrusting his blade into the Sith creature’s next swing. The cerulean bade whirred over his head, checked at the last second to catch the green blade in a parry. The Inquisitor took a step back for the first time, but only to plant his feet deep into the sand. He batted down the Odanite’s second thrust and raised his weapon high above his head, like he was going to chop down a rotten tree trunk.
Korroth saw his opening. Pulling the vibrant energy of the Force into his body, he pounced forward and cracked his knuckles into the exposed tendons that joined the Kaleesh’s triceps to his right elbow. The Inquisitor grunted, but his other arm slammed into Korroth like a mallet, throwing him to the sand.
“Jedi,” the Inquisitor spat out from behind his facemask. “You’ll not leave the planet alive. You’ll not leave this fight until I have smashed every bone in your body.”
