As soon as Vernestra awoke she could sense something amiss. The cave felt off, strangely empty and vacant. As she sat up she immediately noticed Imri and Honesty were gone. Avon still slept, the droid silent next to her. Vernestra vaulted to her feet and woke the younger girl.

“No, it’s supposed to be an ambivalent voltage connector. . . . Huh, what. Vern,” Avon said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. “Did something happen?”

“The boys are gone,” Vernestra said, a deep sense of dread souring her stomach. “I think maybe they went after the pirates by themselves.”

“Of course they did, because they are absolutely ridiculous,” Avon said, standing and stretching. She reached for the goggles that were still on her head and slid them down over her eyes. “I suppose we have to go after them before we even eat breakfast?”

“You are very calm about this whole thing,” Vernestra said, crossing her arms.

“Vern, look at it from the pirates’ point of view. They want us dead, right? All of us? So it’s in their best interest to make us come to them. Imri and Honesty are probably fine for now, assuming they didn’t kill the pirates. Which they didn’t.”

“And how do you know that?”

“I set Essdee to sentry mode before I went to sleep last night just in case something happened,” Avon said, tapping a button on the side of the goggles. “It looks like he followed Imri and Honesty as they left this morning at first light. He’s still nearby, just a little ways down the hill next to a damaged cargo ship.” Avon tapped the goggles again before pushing them back on top of her head. “How did a boulder end up in the side of their ship?”

Vernestra shrugged, even though she knew full well that the boulder had been the result of Imri’s failed Force usage on the first day. The fact that it had crashed into the pirates, stranding them on Wevo, seemed to Vernestra to indicate that the Force was working in their favor. The Force naturally bent toward justice while in balance, and those pirates would have gotten away with their misdeeds if it hadn’t been for that giant rock destroying half their ship.

Avon gave Vernestra a long look before shrugging, as well. “Okay, keep your secrets, Jedi. The important thing right now is how we’re going to save those boneheads before the pirates decide to finish them off. There’s two of us.”

“There are three of us,” J-6 said, striding forward from her place against the wall.

“I don’t think a droid is going to be very useful in a fight,” Vernestra said.

“Then it is a good thing I am no ordinary droid.” J-6’s center compartment opened up, and several mechanical arms sprang forth, all of them holding blasters of various sizes. “I am also programmed for protection, surveillance, and interdiction.” Another arm sprang from J-6’s back, holding a long-range cannon, and Vernestra blinked before looking at Avon.

“Uh, yeah, I guess I should have told you about the blasters,” the girl said with a sheepish smile. “My mom is really, really overprotective.”

Vernestra took a deep breath and let it out. “Well then, let us go figure out how to save our friends.”

It was slow going heading back to the spot where Vernestra and Imri had watched the pirates the night before. J-6 was much slower than the organics, and the uneven terrain just made her travel all the more difficult. Avon watched the droid walk and frowned. “We’re going to get you thrusters when we get back to Port Haileap,” she said. “This is frustrating.”

“Hmmm, I’ve never considered such a thing, but I would enjoy a few upgrades. I’ll make you a list,” J-6 said. It was odd to be around a droid who was so clearly driven by her own desires. Whatever Avon had done had made the droid seem much less like a machine and more like a living creature. But then they were close enough to see the cargo ship and Vernestra was forced to leave her musings for another time.

The three of them ducked behind a particularly large purple bush with fronds in the shape of giant stars. “Where is your scout droid?” Vernestra asked.

“He’s in the tree over there,” Avon said, pointing at a nearby branch before lowering her goggles over her eyes. “I had him go into stealth mode before we left. Let’s see, it looks like Imri and Honesty are tied up on the boarding ramp.” Avon pulled down the goggles. “I would like to point out that my hypothesis was correct.”

Vernestra huffed in annoyance. “What about the Nihil? Do you see them?”

Avon put the goggles back on and hesitated before shaking her head. “I’m not picking up anyone else, not even any life signs.”

“They’re out there,” Vernestra said, certain that the pirates were nearby. They felt like a prickle against her scalp, a knot of blight in the otherwise perfect harmony of Wevo. “We just have to draw them out.”

“Leave that to me,” J-6 said. She began walking jerkily toward the cargo ship while saying “Zzt zzt zzt.” Vernestra could only stare.

“What is she doing?” the Jedi asked.

“I think she’s pretending to be malfunctioning?” Avon said.

“You know this is weird, right?”

“Weird or wonderful? Vern, this is one of the most fascinating things I have ever seen. Droids can reprogram themselves if given the opportunity! That means something.”

Vernestra sighed and drew her lightsaber. “Stay here.”

Avon started to argue but then snapped her mouth shut.

J-6 had reached the ship’s opening and began to walk inside. As she did, the human woman and the Aqualish man both came out of their hiding places behind some nearby giant ferns.

That was exactly what Vernestra had been waiting for. But before she could move, J-6 paused and pulled out her many arms, each one holding a blaster.

“Hold it right there, you scum!” J-6 said.

The Nihil froze, and Vernestra sighed. “This was not part of the plan.”

“Improvisation!” Avon breathed. “Jay-Six is making it up as she goes along. This is even better than I’d hoped.”

And then there was no more time for conversation as everyone started firing their blasters.

“Stay down and stay out of the way!” Vernestra shouted. Blaster shots singed the leaves around them and pinged off of J-6, who was unfazed.

“Great idea,” Avon said, pressing down into the leafy undergrowth.

Vernestra powered up her lightsaber and jumped forward, using the Force to propel herself through the trees. From behind her came Avon’s exclamation of surprise, but she didn’t have time to worry about the younger girl. She had to save Imri and Honesty and subdue the pirates, as well.

Being a Jedi Knight was turning out to be a lot busier than Vernestra had thought it would.

The Aqualish man saw her first, and he turned his blaster on Vernestra as she emerged from the trees. She used her lightsaber to repel the blasts before ducking low and kicking the man’s feet out from underneath him. As he fell he dropped his blaster, and Vernestra kicked it away before using the Force to pick up the man and throw him against a nearby tree. He hit the branches hard, slumping at the base of the tree as he lost consciousness.

Vernestra didn’t have time to enjoy her victory. The woman tackled her from behind, sending her into the dirt, the air whooshing from the Jedi’s lungs with the impact. Vernestra had dropped her lightsaber, so she reached for the Force and pushed, sending both her and the woman on her back flying into the air. Vernestra landed on her feet, but the magenta-haired woman did not.

It didn’t matter, because she held a blaster in her hand, the barrel pointed right at Vernestra. Vernestra called her lightsaber to her, even as she knew that it would be hopeless, but before the woman could shoot her, her eyes widened and she began to choke. She dropped the blaster and grabbed for her throat. Vernestra shook her head.

“I’m not doing that,” Vernestra said, confusion melting away into realization as she saw Imri walking down the boarding ramp, calling his lightsaber to him from the Aqualish man’s pocket. Behind him J-6 had put away her blasters and was bent over Honesty, removing the boy’s bonds.

“No,” Imri said, brow knotted with concentration. “I am.”

“You need to let her go, Imri. This isn’t you. This is the dark reaching out for you. This need for revenge and all this anger? That’s the path to the dark side.”

“Master Douglas is dead because of her. I’m sorry, Vern. I won’t let her hurt anyone else.”

The woman slumped over, her life fading fast, and Vernestra knew she didn’t have time to talk things out with Imri. She reached for the Force and used it to pick Imri up and throw him over the cargo ship, off into the trees. The woman fell to the ground as Avon came running out of her hiding place.

“What’s wrong with Imri?” Avon asked, eyes wide with fright.

“Anger is drawing him toward the dark side of the Force. I have to help him before he gets any worse. You and Jay-Six take care of these guys. And whatever you do, do not follow us.”

J-6 opened her chest compartment and pointed a blaster at both the coughing magenta-haired woman and the unconscious Aqualish man. “If you move, you are dead,” she said.

The Nihil woman just coughed more and raised her hands in surrender.

Vernestra gripped her lightsaber and stalked off into the jungle after the Padawan. She would not let Imri fall to the dark side.