But the Force told him he had to stay. That whatever was on the planet—dangerous as it might be—was of critical significance. That he could learn something he and all the Jedi badly needed to know. The secrets of the Amaxine station would not remain on the station; they would expand far past their old boundaries, into the galaxy at large. The Jedi had to be ready.

Reath took a deep breath, settled into defense stance, and ignited his blade.

Cohmac’s research into Force artifacts and lore had taught him that the containment of the dark side usually took one of a very few forms: the echo of a Sith or other servant of darkness; a specific memory of an atrocity, usually the remembrance of those who had committed it; or a more amorphous, unfocused energy.

What he felt now—on the unbound, unprotected Amaxine station—was something entirely different. As impossible as it was, or ought to be, this was consciousness. Sapience. Individual will…

No. The will of multiple individuals, every single one possessed of murderous intent.

“Did you ever hear of the clay warriors of Zardossa Stix?” Cohmac murmured as the two Jedi moved deeper into the forested glade in the center of the station.

Orla said, “Sure. The ancient statues of a fallen army. The Zardossan legends claimed that the statues were the only things keeping the warriors dead—that if they were ever destroyed, the army would spring back to life. Now I’m asking myself why you’d bring that up at this particular moment, and none of the answers are good.”

“I think these idols,” said Cohmac, “may have been holding back a sort of army, or some other dangerous group.”

Orla stopped in the middle of the glade and held out her arms. “I’m not seeing any army.”

“But you can sense one,” Cohmac said as the impressions became more tangible. His stance shifted from merely alert to battle ready. “Reach out with your feelings.”

“I feel something,” Orla replied, “and I sense its malice. Still, we made a pretty thorough search of this station. Are you telling me we somehow managed to miss an entire military force?”

Then they heard the first footstep.

Both Jedi whirled around until they stood back to back, a single fighting unit. They ignited their lightsabers in the same instant, two white beams from Orla’s double-bladed saber and Cohmac’s lone blue beam shining into the murky patches among the vines.

The rustling grew louder with every heartbeat, yet the more Cohmac heard, the less he understood. None of the approaching enemies wore boots; nor could he hear any telltale clicks of metal hinting at weaponry. And the sound was off, somehow, unmistakable and yet strange.…

He saw a tree sway toward their clearing, as if pushed. Then it came closer and he realized it wasn’t a tree at all.