As attacks by SHADOW WING increase, the systems of the neutral zones cry out for help. The vicious pirates strike virtually at will, only to disappear back into the depths of space.
With their ship captured and their companion Ferb taken prisoner by SHADOW WING, the Jedi and Antarian Rangers resort to desperate measures to learn the pirates' plans. Taanar Ryl and Renpoji Secura infiltrate a mercenary hideout and discover the SHADOW WING plot to take over the planet Glom Tho...
Having found that the Shadow Wing pirates were still keeping a watch on the Fortune of Greepo, the four Jedi representatives quickly made a plan to get them aboard the ship. Den and Ren prepared a distraction that they hoped would allow Taanar and Nema to get into their vessel. As they readied themselves to proceed, a speeder arrived to pick up the pirates, and they could see that it also carried their droid FE.
After the speeder left, Den and Ren cautiously approached the Fortune. There were no more pirates hiding inside, which proved to be because the pirates had disassembled the control panel. As Taanar and Nema joined them, the brothers speculated that the pirates had been trying to bypass the lockout codes that FE would have activated when the ship was threatened.
Working together, the four of them managed to repair their communications system enough that they could contact the Antarian Rangers. There was clearly jamming taking place around Glom Tho, but Taanar managed to punch a signal through. The message they received in response was garbled, and then their hyperspace transceiver burned out.
With the option of contacting the Jedi Order no longer available to them, the Secura brothers decided to return to the church hostel they had visited the previous evening and seek a way to contact the Glom Tho government directly. After telling the man they met there, Garrick Thorn, that they served the Jedi Order, he was convinced to help them. It seemed that the local faith's similarity to Jedi beliefs was more than coincidence. Taanar meanwhile attempted to contact the government herself, but was only able to leave a voice message after listening to a recording that told her contact with offworlders was only permitted during daylight hours.
Ferb had told Ren that the coup would take place at dawn the next day, and by this point dawn was only an hour away. The team was becoming desperate. so they all went to the church again and pleaded for Garrick Thorn to make contact with government representatives, since he was a native. With Thorn making the call, the message was accepted, much to their relief. But within moments they began to hear klaxons in the background. Thorn offered them use of his ground speeder.
Equipped with a vehicle, the team decided to go back to the warehouse to rescue Ferb. As they left the church behind, they spotted six armed speeders heading toward the causeway to the mainland. They arrived at the warehouse to find it vacant and immediately turned around to follow the speeders they had seen.
As they approached the causeway gate, they could see blaster fire being exchanged with the gate guards. Their warning message had clearly been received and believed and the government forces were trying to stop the pirates. Then some Nikto mercenaries began firing on their borrowed speeder.
Den steered the speeder toward the pirates' vehicles. Taanar, who was sitting on the back of the open speeder, reached out with the Force and grabbed one of the pirates' speeders, hurling at another vehicle. One speeder exploded, sending a burning pirate plunging into the nearby canal. They could see pirates and government soldiers fighting at the near end of the causeway and headed toward it. Taanar negated a blast directed at the borrowed speeder. An armored personnel carrier was moving toward the causeway, so Taanar flipped it on its side and used it to block the gate area to prevent the pirates' speeders from getting through.
Despite being hit, Taanar vaulted onto the personnel carrier and began to use her saber to cut into it. Nema deflected more blaster fire and disarmed one of the Nikto mercenaries. Den shouted to the pirates, "Surrender! Your plot's been exposed!"
After Taanar cut open the personnel carrier, Ferb climbed out, complaining that flipping the vehicle on its side had already opened the door. Most of the mercenaries had been taken out either by Nema and her cousins or by the government military. They found the controller for the slave collar on one of the mercenaries and released Ferb, but FE was not with him in the vehicle.
Once reunited with the team, Ferb told them that he'd overheard the pirates and mercenaries discussing attacking a mine. When asked about this, the local military told the Jedi team that there was a kyber crystal mine on Glam Tho. Then someone indicated that communication with the mine had been lost. Ferb offered to pilot one of the undamaged personnel carriers to take the team and some local troopers to the mine.
On route to the mine, the troopers used their medical packs to treat the wounds Den and Taanar had suffered in the fighting at the spaceport. As they approached the mine they could see smoke rising from structures on the surface. The Herglik and the people who had taken Ferb from Ord Mantell were present. The team members also spotted a huge crystal on an antigrav pallet.
Taanar dove out of the carrier and took cover behind some containers, then used the Force to grab the crystal and move it closer to the carrier. Nema and the brothers also clambered out of the carrier and began exchanging fire with the pirates. Suddenly Vima Montari, the captive Imperial Knight, emerged from inside the mine entrance, carrying her ignited lightsaber but still wearing the slave collar. She hurled a spiked projectile at Ren, who realized it must be poisoned after it hit him and he began to feel weakness.
Taanar flipped the pallet upside-down on top of the carrier so Ferb could undo the straps through the roof hatch. The troopers emerged from the carrier and joined the fight against the pirates. With the kyber crystal safely under Jedi control, Taanar turned her attention to Vima Montari. She attempted to disarm the Imperial Knight of her lightsaber and was surprised at the younger woman's ability to resist. Meanwhile the pirate group's leader, Navion, had climbed up on top of the mine entrance building, where the Herglik joined him. Taanar leaped up onto the building but landed awkwardly and missed her attack on Navion.
Ren was getting weaker by the moment, and his attempt to disable Vima with a grenade failed. Nema, however, managed to hit her with blaster fire. Threatened by Taanar, Navion ordered Vima to come to him. When she jumped up onto the structure and attacked Taanar, Taanar used the Force to shove her off the building's roof.
The Herglik then knocked Taanar off the roof also, and Vima jumped back up onto it. While Den jumped into an unoccupied speeder the pirates had brought, a shuttle arrived bringing more pirates to fire on the troopers. Taanar grabbed the Herglik and used him as a weapon for a second time, hurling him at Navion. Unfortunately because she was below Navion, she couldn't see him clearly and her living missile failed to hit the target. She vaulted back up onto the building and thrust Navion off the roof with the Force. The shuttle that had arrived had maneuvered to that side of the building, and as Taanar watched the Herglik grabbed Vima Montari and leaped into the shuttle.
Behind the building, Den rammed his speeder into Navion, killing him. He was found holding the slave collar control in his hand, indicating that he might have meant to kill Vima when he thought she was going to escape. As the Jedi team discovered this, Antarian Ranger X-wing fighters arrived and took out the remaining pirate forces and their hired mercenaries.
Ferb had flown the personnel carrier with the crystal out of range during the fighting, but with the shooting over he returned. As the carrier landed, Nema felt something calling to her from inside the craft. She had failed to acquire a crystal of her own when they were attacked by Shadow Wing on Ilum, but it seemed that there was a shard from the larger crystal that was meant for her.
As the Jedi and Rangers helped the local troops mop up, Taanar Ryl heard a voice in her mind saying, "Find me."
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