The cruiser‟s turrets began shifting their position to the jumped fight-

ers. Shi‟yi scrambled to change her com-channel to the fighters, but in a

split-second she saw all ten starfighters scatter away from the cruiser‟s
line of fire.
Shi‟yi ceased holding her breath as the fighters weaved all around the
starship‟s vast hull, disappearing and reappearing across the length of the
ship. Her headset beeped.
<You didn‟t tell us about a cruiser, General. Do we engage or retreat?>
She couldn‟t tell where the squad leader was, amidst the scattered Y-
wings that were now circling the around of the ship‟s hull, drawing turret
fire that seemed to shoot where the fighters were a second ago.
<You‟ll follow Captain Zuyria‟s command; she‟s your team leader. >
<Yes, Master. Yellow Leader, engage and draw fire, we must keep
them distracted from General Shi‟yi and Captain Baohe.>
<Roger, Captain.>
Shi‟yi could see Zuyria‟s X-wing fly under the ship‟s belly, as the other
fighters quickly assembled into formation. She saw streaks of red hit the
ship‟s hull, littering it with tiny explosions all along the side.
<Zee, follow me.> Shi‟yi immediately dove down back into the plan-
et‟s atmosphere, and spotted another X-wing follow close behind her.
They broke through the clouds, and could see the proton cannon place-
ments recoiling with each shot.
<What are they firing at?>
<The people. We have to get low. Launch missiles on my mark.>
The two descended down as they approached the back of the place-
ments, and Shi‟yi could see tiny figures in black scrambling on the white
terrain as the two fighters skimmed the surface, nearing their target. The
cannons began turning slowly around to face the oncoming Jedi fighters.
 <Looks like some kind of modified proton artillery. Their designs?>
<Must be. They have a much bigger weapon. Get ready, Zee.>
Both of their fighters were now less than a hundred meters above the
surface. She could see the barrels of several cannons glowing blue, and a
whirring sound getting louder. She could hear the cannons.
<Mark!>
Shi‟yi pressed down on her trigger and she heard the flaps bellow the
fighter go out, and the weight of the missiles disappear and she saw Zee
do the same. As the two flew past the exploding placements, the tops of
the mountains broke through the horizon. Shi‟yi could see smoke billow-
ing from the mountain sides, and the mark of the most recent artillery
strike etched in new craters joining old ones. The two cruised at steady
speed above the white surface towards the mountain‟s base.
<Is that where they live?>
<Yes, to protect themselves against barrages like that.>
They slowed to a hover in front of the cave entrance, as dim and dark
as before, now littered with boulders that had fallen during the barrage.
Shi‟yi landed her fighter and hopped out. Zee followed.
“I left them in there to contact you. I didn‟t know there was a starship
hovering in orbit.”
“Yeah, or we would have come with more than one squadron.”
“Will they hold?”
“Yeah, Zuyria can handle it.”
The darkened cave gave way to the green and blue tint from both of
their lightsabers, illuminating their way down through the tunnels. Both
heard feet crunching against the loose rocks on the cave grown, and soon
heaving pants followed it. Shi‟yi and Zee ventured down further, now
hastily to investigate the sound of frantic footsteps coming toward them.
The scout from before almost ran into Zee‟s lightsaber, who quickly
withdrew it and caught the collapsing scout.
His fur was stained with brown and grey, and blood dripped from his
snout. The black eyes were wide and fearful.
“They‟re i-inside. I…came to find you, Jedi.
Both of them sensed a disturbance emanating from the cave.
“The Princess, where is she?”
The scout raised his four-fingered hand, mottled with blood, down to-
wards the tunnel. His finger could barely move up to point them the way.
“Fighting.” His hand and body collapsed in Zee‟s arms. Shi‟yi couldn‟t
tell if he was dead or unconscious; Onacti had no eyelids. She held her
hand to his throat, hoping that his physiology was similar to a human‟s.
Luckily, she felt a heartbeat. She looked down the tunnel.
“Leave him, Zee, we have to get to the caverns The Naki must have
infiltrated neighbouring cave entrances during the barrage.”
“But what‟s my job? You did call for a specialist, right?”
The two traversed down the tunnels as fast as they could, Force-
jumping off cave wall to cave wall, fearing the worst. The sound of blaster
fire grew louder, amidst the shouting and yelling that Shi‟yi had heard in
the cavern before. This time, it was a different language that joined Oncati
voices, and they sounded hoarse, raspy, and reptilian. The two slid down
the base and leaped, drew their lightsabers, and landed just behind the first
line of shacks. They joined dozens of Oncati military and citizens, pushed
back to the entrance, shooting through the maze of shacks towards the
other side. Both of them could not see the visual of the enemy. The Oncati
resistance was firing blindly, hoping that the enemy wouldn‟t push for-
ward.
 Shi‟yi and Zee stayed low, as she scanned the area for Monka. She
grabbed a bearded Oncati man who was fiercely grabbing rocks and
lobbing them to the other side.
“Where is the Princess?”
He ignored her and continued to grab rocks from the ground.
“They‟re here. Broke through! We‟re trapped. Trapped!”
She backed away and turned to Zee.
“Do you see that rock column with the window?”
The metal door was bent and stained with blood, but seemed locked.
Zee spotted it and nodded to Shi‟yi, Force-jumping high above the battle-
ground and seeing the other side of the cavern, with dozens Naki soldiers
piling into the opposite tunnel‟s opening into the cavern. He hopped on the
shack roofs, clanking under his light footfalls, speedily moving from shack
to shack until he landed in front of the door. Three of Nakireman soldiers
spotted him and opened fire. Zee pivoted his feet and swung his lightsaber
to deflect the shots, and the three collapsed in a heap.
Shi‟yi saw Zee Force-crush the tower door open while looking for
Monka again. Suddenly, a missile zoomed down across the cavern and hit
the far end of a cave wall, and exploded into ice that froze a group of Naki
soldiers. Shi‟yi followed the exhaust trace and found Monka, positioned in
one of the wall burrows, with another Oncati soldier feeding her a second
CryoBan grenade into a launcher. The soldier patted her on the head and
she fired again. Shi‟yi didn‟t wait to watch this one hit, as she ran up the
wall and hopped over to the other side. With one long leap, she grabbed
the lift shaft and climbed up to the burrow directly below the Princess. A
family of three protected their heads as Shi‟yi tucked inside, safe from
stray fire. She popped her head out and looked upwards.
 “Monka! Their cruiser is orbiting the planet; the weapon, they‟re going
to fire the weapon!”
Monka and her partner looked down at Shi‟yi, who was deflecting
blaster fire from the Nakiremans on the cave floor who had spotted them.
“We have the schematics; get your people out of here!”
She pointed towards the tower, now being bombarded by blaster fire.
The column began cracking rapidly. Rock and dirt exploded from its
midsection as Zee‟s hands pushed outwards, held the debris in mid-air,
and flung them at the assaulting soldiers. He jumped back onto the roofs
and to the Oncati front lines by the first row of shacks. Shi‟yi and Monka
followed him with their eyes as he looked back and motioned for Shi‟yi to
retreat to the outside terrain.
“Okay. I‟ll call a retreat.”
Shi‟yi nodded and climbed out from the burrow. The family watched
her as she grabbed the lifter shaft and let go, landing on a shack roof.
“Whatever you do, destroy that weapon!”
She looked up at Monka‟s eyes once again. She did not want to look
away, but Zee called from across the cavern.
“We have to hurry, Zuyria‟s getting some competition!”
Monka nodded at Shi‟yi, who hopped the roofs to the other side. Her
comlink beeped.
<Master, they‟ve deployed fighters; we‟re only doing surface damage.
Hurry.>
“Do you have the schematics?” Shi‟yi asked Zee as they both leaped up
the tunnel. Behind them, Oncati continued to take the onslaught of fire
from the other side of the cavern.
“Yeah, I put them on a datacard, Teefour will transmit them to the
squadron display systems.”
 “How do you destroy it?”
“Simple. Attack the weak point, like always. I know what to do. You
handle the retreat. That Princess is doing pretty well.”
They reached the cold outside, but saw faint specks coming closer to-
wards them. Shi‟yi‟s wrist beeped again.
<Incoming, Master Qui-li! Their fighters are diverging towards the
surface, I can‟t make it in time!>
They looked at each other as Zuyria cut out from the comlink. The in-
tense whoosh of the Naki fighters rang in their ears. The sound of cannons
firing was next. And after that, the huge energy beams heading towards
them as the fighters pulled up and flew up, out of sight.
“They‟re trying to cave in the entrance—go, Zee! I‟ll go back!”
“Shi‟yi, no!”
Zee stretched his hand out as Shi‟yi Force-sprinted into the cave en-
trance, disappearing into the blackness. A half-second later, the lasers
from the fighters hit just above the cave entrance. Zees watched the
boulders crash down and throw up blocks of ice as they landed. The
crashing quieted and through the dust Zee saw a wall of rock where the
entrance had once been. He dashed for his cockpit, listening to Teefour
beep rapidly before starting the engines. He took out the datacard from his
robes and shoved it into T4‟s compartment.
“Here, shut up! Transmit it!” His cockpit closed and his X-wing hov-
ered before spinning around and soaring out of the atmosphere.
Inside, Shi‟yi watched as the entire cave shook while the boulders fell
outside and blocked her in. The echoes of the warring down in the cavern
grew louder, and more screams, grunts, and blaster fire amplified the
paining echo. She glanced at the barrier, and down towards the sounds of
battle, waiting for a sign of an Oncati to confirm their retreat. Her comlink
beeped once, stuttered, and beeped again.
<—Zee…time…enga—…the weapon!>
The signal was being jammed by the mountain walls. Shi‟yi had to de-
cipher Zee‟s scrambled message and what it meant, fast. Either the super-
weapon was going to be firing at any given moment, or Zee‟s technical
expertise was being put to the test, and he was struggling to find a weak
point. At any rate, Shi‟yi had to break through the barrier, and inform
Monka of the fighters that were patrolling the ground. She didn‟t know
whether to attempt to break the barrier or go back and help the retreat.
Shi‟yi breathed heavily, and shut her eyes. All at once, the memories of
her master, the image of Zee and the glimpse of the space battle that must
have been going thousands of kilometres above the planet clouded her
mind and Shi‟yi tried her hardest to clear her mind and open her eyes. She
had to focus her calm and tranquility. She began to center on only the
sound of the Force that resonated in her mind, and willed herself to reach
and grab its frequency to steady her thoughts. She exhaled deeply as her
feet left the ground, her sprit left her body, and she held the Force in her
mind and body. The echoes of battle, bloodshed, and fear became ambient,
and she could feel her heart pulse slower and slower; her mind move faster
and clearer.
The sound of the chaos below her was broken by a much clearer one.
“There must be only a handful of them left! We‟ve contacted the other
positions; they‟re gaining an upper hand in the Western ranges. They‟ve
been spread thin!”
“We‟ll break through to the surface, hold them at the choke point—”
It was Monka‟s soft, calming voice that Shi‟yi heard. And she opened
her eyes to find her leading several hundred Oncati, with an officer beside
her, staring back at Shi‟yi floating in mid-air. Several of them gasped in
awe, others stood still. Monka slowly approached Shi‟yi with arm out-
stretched and mouth in a numb grin, as if she were seeing a lost holy relic.
Shi‟yi lowered he legs to the ground as the Princess stood in front of her,
with a more visible smile.
“You truly are the Masked One‟s disciple.”
Monka once again clasped Shi‟yi‟s hand with her paw, a feeling that
reassured her spirit. Her master talked about battle meditation as a tech-
nique used to better not only your allies, but yourself as well. In regaining
oneself through the Force, one can light up an entire people. The Oncati
began cheering after watching the Princess and Shi‟yi exchanged their
looks of regained confidence.
She smiled, shaking her head. “It was his air-filter mask.”
“It was our symbol to remember him by.”
Shi‟yi unclasped her utility belt‟s pocket, and reached inside to grab the
broken pendant half. She looked once again at the ancient Kel Dorian
inscription; if she was „The Lighted One‟ then he was „The Masked One.‟
He had crafted it in his journeys, and told these people about his newest
apprentice, and shared their stories to them because he knew that one day
Shi‟yi would arrive here, destined to come and fulfill her master‟s original
mission. She understood her purpose to these people; this was her final
lesson, long after she had become a Knight, a Master, and a protector of an
entire species; long after his death. She was supposed to shine; for the
Oncati, for Zee and Zuyria, for the entire Jedi Order. She grasped it again,
and this time, attached it to her lightsaber hilt.
The echoes of grunting, hissing and chanting slowly crept closer as
Oncati men, women and children fearfully glanced backwards, watching
for the first signs of the Naki to break through once more. Monka backed
away as Shi‟yi turned around to face the barrier of boulders.
“The Naki are preparing to assault anyone who breaks through to the
surface. Their fighters are blasting rock barriers to the cave entrances, and
patrolling all along the range. You need to get ready for air-to-ground.”
Without words, several Oncati scouts broke through the crowd behind
the Princess with missile launchers and plasma cannons, kneeling eagerly
with their weapons. Shi‟yi turned back around and nodded to them, seeing
their eyes gleaming with confidence, hope, and determination.
Shi‟yi smiled; she was getting accustomed to the deceptively expres-
sive Oncati eyes. She turned around once more.
“Stand back,” she said calmly.
She centered her balance, and raised her hands slowly; the loose rocks
around her rose along with them, hovering around Shi‟yi‟s aura. Her hair
lifted as well, and her robes swayed with the swirling aura of the Force
that began to illuminate her. Slowly, she moved her hands together, and
the hovering rocks began vibrating. She cupped her hands together at the
wrist, and curled her fingers inwards. She concentrated, and soon a ball of
energy formed within her hands, while the rocks were shook more violent-
ly around Shi‟yi‟s aura.
She lunged forward with a fierce shout. Wind rushed towards the barri-
er. The Oncati covered their ears at the enormous whoosh that took over
the tunnel. The wall exploded outwards, splaying the boulders across the
icy surface outside and letting in the blinding white light reflected off the
snowy white terrain.
Shi‟yi panted with her head down, as Monka lifted her back up. As she
looked out the cave, she immediately drew her lightsaber and sprinted
outside. The Princess and several soldiers followed her.
 She stopped running when she saw the wing of a fighter smoking up
from the ground. She looked for an insignia, a sign of what it belonged to.
All around were debris, blackened snow, and smoke billowing from
wreckage. It was Naki fighters that were littered across the ice plains.
Shi‟yi scanned the Force for the aerial team, but thankfully she felt no
disturbances. Rather, a warm feeling took over her body as she located
them. Suddenly, her comlink beeped, steady this time.
<I sense your concern, Master. Do not worry. We have neutralized the
threat. Jedi Baohe found the weak spot. We will land in a moment. Zuyria,
out.>
Shi‟yi looked up at the sky, and could see the docile starship, only a
small streamlined figure floating above the sky, motionless.
Appearing from behind the range, the Yellow Aces and two distinctly
coloured X-wings broke through above the mountains, swooping over the
Oncati people who were now moving outside and cheering at their victory.
Looping back around, they paused and hovered above them before gently
landing on the surface. Zee and Zuyria‟s cockpits eased open, and both
jumped out to greet Shi‟yi.
“Wow, Shi‟yi. I could sense that energy signature from way up there.
That was intense.”
Zee patted Shi‟yi on the shoulder particularly aggressively. Shi‟yi
looked up at him and rolled her eyes. He nervously laughed and backed
away, turning around to greet the Yellow Ace pilots behind them. Zuyria
embraced Shi‟yi.
“I sensed it too, my friend. Your mastery of the Force…” She smiled
and shook her head in awe.
 “I only wish you were able to finish your training with him, as I had.
Even incomplete, you make a much stronger Jedi than me. I may fly well,
but you are able to do…this.”
She expanded her arms and took a look at the rubble that littered the
ground with the wreckages around them.
“Zuyria, he always said the one thing I couldn‟t do was be you. You
fly; it‟s what you do, my friend. We both know you‟re the best. I think the
smoking heaps of enemy fighters show that.”
“Yes, but this was your mission, and your master‟s. Together, you
saved this world. I am honoured to fight alongside you, Shi‟yi.”
Shi‟yi didn‟t say anything. She didn‟t need to.
Zee returned in time to hear Zuyria‟s last comment. He scoffed at her,
and both Shi‟yi and Zuyria glared at Zee, who shrugged innocently. The
Princess walked towards all three.
“I believe, it was all of you who saved us.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Shi‟yi said.
“You guided us away from the darkness, Lighted One.”
Zee and Zuyria stared at each other perplexed, as Shi‟yi waved it off.
“The ship; it just sits there, above us?”
Zee cut in. “Well, Yellow went for the engines, and I went for the
thermal weapon. Their anti-grav systems and repulsor generators are still
up, so they‟ll sit there until someone gets them.”
“Which will be Galactic Alliance Security forces. Rest assured, your
conflict is resolved.” Zuyria‟s diplomatic voice was, as she stated, the
most reassuring of all three. Monka bowed to the Jedi and shook hands
with the squad leader, pulling Shi‟yi aside while Zee and Zuyria returned
to their fighters to report back to Coruscant.
“It‟s odd, is it not?”
 “That this thing is sort of generational?” She smirked.
“It‟s fitting.”
Shi‟yi laughed again. Monka‟s black eyes smiled along with her mouth.
“I guess.”
This time, Shi‟yi grabbed the Princess‟ hands. The feeling of them was
always as refreshing as the very first time she felt them.
“You inspire your people, Princess. It‟s not surprising that you‟re a
born leader.”
“Well, you inspire me, Shi‟yi—is that correct?”
Shi‟yi nodded, and embraced the Princess. She could sense something
in her, something that was great, and she was sure it would become even
greater.
Behind them, she heard engines powering up and Zee yelling some-
thing indecipherable at Zuyria. And all around them, the Oncati people
began hiking towards other blocked entrances, moving demolitions teams
to free the other trapped caverns. The two warriors stood still, however,
and looked into each other‟s eyes one final time. Shi‟yi began walking
towards her fighter, but turned and glanced once again at the Princess,
who joined the hike alongside the towering mountains to the other caves.
The Oncati crowded around her, lifting up their weapons and cheering.
Shi‟yi powered up and followed her fellow Jedi back into space, back
to her books, and back to the journals. She knew though, that where she
belonged was not in the Archives, but among her companions, old and
new, past and present. She was to make her own stories to be read, and her
own lessons to be learned, just as her master had done before her.