Chapter Sixteen - Bigger Problems

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"Welcome back!" greeted the pilot droid when they entered the ship. "You have been gone longer than expected, but I have kept the ship safe and waiting to lift off."

"Thanks Rex," Cade said to the droid, because he had no idea what else to say to it.

"You are very welcome!" replied RX-24.

"Did you inform the Order about our situation?" asked Wolf as he boarded the ship after Shado.

"I'm afraid I am unaware of the situation to which you are referring," said Rex.

Wolf heaved a sigh. "Nevermind, you worthless piece of junk. I'll do it myself."

Wolf pressed a few buttons on a control panel and a hologram of Cade's father appeared before them.

"Sazen!" Kol said in surprise, stopping what he was doing to give Wolf his full attention. "Where have you been? Is Cade okay?"

"I'm right here," said Cade stepping into the view.

"Cade! I thought I'd lost you!" Kol exclaimed. "What happened, Wolf?"

"We have a problem here," Wolf said. "When we got here, Wayland was functioning perfectly, but then it returned to a dead planet and the Yuuzhan Vong have rebelled. We need to get as many Order members as we can spare down here to fix things."

Kol just shook his head. "That's the least of our worries now."

"What do you mean?" Wolf said, his face growing grim. "What's happening on Ossus?"

"Krayt's One Sith have invaded," said Kol. "Many Jedi are already dead. We're evacuating younglings and padawans. Things aren't looking good. This may be Ossus' last stand. Whatever you do..."

The hologram flickered and cut out right as Kol drew his lightsaber as a Sith confronted him. Wolf turned to Cade and Shado and their worried faced matched his perfectly. Wolf snapped out of his daze and began punching more buttons on the control panel. "I'm getting us out of here, now!"

"Oh no, allow me to..."

"No!" snapped Wolf, cutting of Rex's offering to fly them. "I'm doing this one myself."

They flew out of Wayland at record speed as Wolf activated the Hyperdrive and managed to get them dangerously close to Ossus within no time. If anyone else had made that jump, they would have either crashed into a planet or sent them hurling into endless space. Wolf skillfully parked the ship and jumped out without waiting for it to fully stop.

"Get to the escape pods immediately, both of you!" Wolf yelled back to them. "I'm going to find Kol."

"No!" replied Cade as he followed Wolf. "I'm coming too!"

"Me too," said Shado, which surprised Cade greatly.

"Absolutely not!" Wolf said. "You'll only make things worse. These are Sith we're talking about. Neither of you have faced anything like them. You'll only make it harder for us."

"I've faced a Sith before," Cade said, remembering the time in the cave. This caused Wolf to look back. "And I'm not afraid to do it again!"

"I know you aren't," Wolf said, stopping and putting his hands on Cade's shoulders. "You're not afraid of anything, I know that. And you'll make a great Jedi one day. But this isn't your fight right now. This is our fight, mine and your father's and the rest of the Jedi Knight's and Master's. But your fight is coming, I promise you that. So please go, if not to save yourself then to save Shado."

"Shado want to help too, and he's not afraid either," Cade said.

"Yes he is. He wants to support his friends, but he's smarter than you, even if you are braver. He knows that neither you or him will survive, but he's still willing to be there for you and me," Wolf whispered to Cade, so that Shado couldn't hear. "So go Cade, please. Your time will come."

Cade hesitated, but then agreed. Even if he didn't die from the Sith, Shado probably would. He couldn't risk someone's life like that. "Come on," he said to Shado. "Let's get to an escape pod."

Shado nodded and followed him, looking pretty relieved. Cade wasn't relieved, though. He needed to be out there, fighting. He knew that the Jedi Masters could use some extra people fighting with them, but it would only just worry his father. So he'd get to the pod, get off the planet, and then meet up with his father later. It was a plan.

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