The Super Star Destroyer, her kinetic energy scarcely slowed by the impact, continued to plow into the world-ship. Hundred-meter-long remnants of the ship's superstructure sheared off from the solid core, but that core plunged inexorably deeper into the worldship.

In moments, as the orbit of the two Jedi brought them closer to the impact zone, Lusankya's core was swallowed by the worldship, her superstructure scraped off and left behind, mountain-high, on the worldship's surface.

Then the surface of the worldship shuddered. Luke knew what that meant. Eight or more kilometers below the surface, the spearpoint of the core had exploded. Then the next hundred-meter section behind it would detonate, then the one behind that, a chain of destruction reaching all the way back to what had once been Lusankya's stern.

As they passed over the Super Star Destroyer's wreckage, the mountain of scrap leapt skyward, propelled by a volcanolike eruption from beneath the surface as the last of Lusankya's core sections detonated.

The flash from the explosion was brilliant and the force of the explosion jetted into the sky, looking for one brief moment like a red-orange lightsaber blade kilometers in length.

The surface of the worldship heaved. Great jagged cracks flowing with a red-black substance Luke did not care to contemplate spread out, from Lusankya's impact point as the worldship began to die. * * *

His ship protected by the remains of Charat Kraal's special operations group, Harrar watched the crash and detonation. He could feel blood drain from his face, could feel the strength of his legs begin to fail. He sat heavily in the captain's seat, wordless.

"The infidels appear to be grouping again," his pilot said. "Shall we join these coralskippers in a counterattack?"

"What's the point?" Harrar whispered. "Take us back to Coruscant.

Take us back where we can look on victory instead of disaster."

On his next spin, Wedge saw the squadron of skips turn back toward him. He aimed and fired after them, a final, defiant gesture, but his weapon failed to discharge.

On his next spin, he could see the incoming skips but, beyond them, witnessed the brilliant flash of light that heralded Lusankya's demise.

"I'm not exactly going to miss you," he said.

The incoming coralskippers opened fire. At this range, only one of the plasma projectiles hit; Wedge felt it crash into and through the X-wing's stern, and suddenly he was spinning even faster, watching the stars rotate by at bewildering speed.

Then things became more complicated. Unable to quite resolve the picture outside his canopy into a comprehensible one, growing dizzier by the minute, Wedge thought he saw red lasers flashing among the orange-red plasma balls. He was certain he saw one coralskipper detonate, then two.

There were E-wings and X-wings near him, the latter painted in the standard New Republic colors, and his comlink crackled to life-a woman's voice, fading in and out: "Blackmoon Ten... Eleven. Are... with us?"

He activated his jury-rigged comm board. "Black-moon Ten, this is Blackmoon Eleven. That's a copy. Still here, but about to throw up."

"Hold on... shuttle. It'll be here... minutes."

Then there was a new voice, stronger because the broadcasting X-wing hovered only fifty meters away. Wedge recognized the voice as Gavin Dark lighter's. "Blackmoon Eleven, what did you think you were doing going after an entire squadron?"

"My job."

"That's 'My job, sir.'"

Wedge grinned. "My job, sir.""

"Son, if you develop piloting skills in proportion to your nerve, someday they'll call you the greatest pilot of all time."

Gavin, baffled, stared down at his comm board. "Black-moon Eleven?

Are you still there?"

But Blackmoon Eleven didn't respond-at least, not with words. The only thing emerging from Gavin's comm board was laughter. Laughter that was somehow familiar.

The New Republic forces staged mop-up and withdrawal operations.

Starfighter squadrons collected themselves, escorted rescue shuttles, defended their capital ships from the uncoordinated attacks of the Yuuzhan Vong.

But it would not be long before a new yammosk was brought into the system, not long before more Yuuzhan Vong reinforcements made the system untenable. One after another, the divisions of Borleias's defenders launched into hyperspace to travel to their first rendezvous point.

The world they left behind was, for now, Yuuzhan Vong property. The stand here had served its intended purpose. The Advisory Council'and its supporters had enjoyed months in which to plot their next moves-defenses, surrenders, tricks. But the Advisory Council might never know what else had been done during those months: what plans had been made, what foundations had been laid for a resistance that would not depend on them.

EPILOGUE.

Tsavong Lah sat alone on his seat in his command chamber. He could not speak.

The gods must love him. They had restored his arm to him. They had allowed him to root out treachery that had threatened to topple him. They had given him Bor-leias, whose defenders had, at last, fled.

The gods must bate him. They had taken his father from him. Not only his father, but the fabled warmaster, Czulkang Lah, whose methods of teaching, whose strategic innovations, though introduced decades before the war on this galaxy was launched, had made these conquests possible.

The Yuuzhan Vong would be struck like a coufee m the guts by news of Czulkang Lah's death and the utter destruction of Domain Hul.

Which was it? Had he earned the hatred or the affection of the gods?

He sat back, hollow with the loss he had just expericed, uncertain within a universe that had just grown darker and stranger.

By Aaron Allston

Galatea in 2-DBard's Tale series (with Holly Lisle)

Thunder of the Captains

Wrath of the PrincesCar Warrior series

Double JeopardyDoc Sidhe series

Doc Sidhe

Sidhe-DevilStar Wars: X-Wing series X-Wing series

Wraith Squadron

Iron Fist

Solo Command

Starfighters of AdumarStar Wars: New Jedi Order series New Jedi Order series

Rebel Dream

Rebel StandStar Wars: Legacy of the Force series Legacy of the Force series

Betrayal

Exile

FuryStar Wars: Fate of the Jedi series Fate of the Jedi series

Outcast

BacklashTerminator 3 series

Terminator Dream

Terminator Hunt