Master Adampo walked to the front of the chamber, and the crowd went still. Gratitude swept through Reath. Once the lecture began he could finally escape the echo chamber of his thoughts for a while.

“Today we must examine an enemy element that has caused great trouble on the frontier—a marauder group known as the Nihil,” said Adampo as the room fell dark. “Although the Republic had already identified the Nihil as a significant threat to settlements and shipping, it has now been established that the group certainly caused the Legacy Run disaster.”

Reath sat upright as murmurs of dismay filled the room. If the Nihil were capable of that, what else could they do? That didn’t matter as much as what they’d already done, not to Reath.

If not for the Legacy Run disaster and the subsequent conflict with the Nihil, Master Jora would still be alive.

It was as though the rage descended on him—he wouldn’t have believed he had the capacity for that kind of hate in him. They killed my master, whispered an unfamiliar, undeniable voice in his head. The Nihil murdered her. His entire body tensed until he nearly shook.

Turn away from hatred. This is the dark side, whispered a more familiar voice—not his own, but Master Jora’s. It was only Reath’s memory of her, but that was a lifeline to the light.

Slowly he exhaled. Banishing all the tension was impossible, but he resolved to direct that energy toward learning more about these raiders who had caused so much harm, and not only to Master Jora.

“Therefore the group requires more in-depth study than has been conducted of late,” Adampo continued. “The Nihil’s origins are mysterious; they comprise numerous species from widely disparate worlds. However, we have no solid count on the species included or of the proportions represented, due to their masked faces.” Adampo brought up the first holo, an image of a fearsome Nihil warrior with a huge breathmask strapped to his head, storming some hapless ship. The Nihil wore blue battle stripes painted from his hairline down to his chest, over the mask itself. Reath was reminded, bizarrely but affectionately, of the blue streaks in Nan’s hair.

Maybe he had become too fond of her.

“Nihil ships are uniquely dangerous because they can join together or separate into smaller sections,” continued Adampo. “Therefore no opponent can be sure whether he will be facing a storm of small fighters or a massive dreadnought. The ships are generally constructed from pieces of other vessels, like this.”

Another holo filled the space, this one showing a pieced-together patchwork spacecraft—one that was far too familiar.

Reath’s eyes widened as he realized, That looks like Nan and Hague’s ship.

Looks exactly like it.