Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy A Fan Novelization

Chapter Fifteen - The Machine

Jaden landed with a soft thud on a pile of something soft and squishy that broke her fall. She resisted the urge to vomit. The smell down here was even worse. She quickly stood up, looking around at the pit she and Kyle were in. She'd landed in a smaller section that connected to a round part in the middle with two other narrow sections branching off of it.

"Jaden, run to the middle. You can jump out from there!" She suddenly saw Kyle standing above the pit, urgency in his voice and she saw why: Panels were slowly pushing their way towards the middle, pushing trash and all manner of junk and disgusting debris towards it. Above the circular center section, a round object with blunt spikes slowly began its descent, its function was to crush and pulverize the garbage. Panic gripped Jaden and she rushed to the middle, aiming a high jump to the ledge where Kyle stood, any more time and the pulverizer would trap her under it, blocking her escape. She leapt for it, missed, grasping for the edge and found Kyle's hand; he pulled her upwards so fast and easily, her foot just clearing the gap between the ledge and the giant crushing head.

They both sat motionless for a moment, the reality of what had almost happened settling over them. He stood up, gently helping her up too and let go of her hands.

"That was too close. We've gotta get outta here." Kyle glanced around, noting the chute they'd just come from and clocking the two others nearby. "Take that chute and I'll take this one, with luck we'll meet up on the other side." Jaden nodded, trying to shake the nerves and hurried to the chute her master had pointed out, flinching at the sounds of the trash compactor behind her, focusing her Force energy on not slipping backwards.

With some momentum, she cleared the top of the chute and entered a small control room guarded by unsuspecting stormtroopers and their commander, a small man with a balding head he was desperately trying to cover up.

"Where did you come from?" He yelled in shock and tried to shoot Jaden, missing miserably. She hacked her way through the stormtroopers until it was just the two of them.

"Activate all the lifts, now!" Jaden demanded. "And be sure to kindly point me to the nearest one."

"Y-y-yes, of course." The little man had his hands up as he went to the control panel and pulled a switch then pointed to the only door out of the room. "I-its through there! Please don't hurt me, I didn't even want this job with the trash compactor but they made me!"

Jaden shook her head and stepped forward to examine the door, fearing no harm from her enemy without his blaster. She sighed with relief. That's pretty convenient that the switch to activate the lifts is on the control panel for the trash compact-

"Wait!" She whirled around to see the small man holding a blaster he'd kept hidden. In the next second he fired off a round and Jaden had no choice but to deflect it back at him. He crumpled to the ground and Jaden exited without a glance back. Never turn your back on an Imperial.

She entered a small hallway that only led one way and took a right at the end of it when she saw that going left was a dead end with crates shoved in the corner. At the end of the hall were two doors, one with red lights signaling it was locked, the other green. She took her only option and heard the sounds of lightsabers clashing. She breathed more easily, knowing Kyle had made it too.

"You should run!" Kyle was taunting as he fought not one, nor two, but three armed cultists at a time. Jaden was so amazed and shocked that she almost sat back and watched the whole thing, but shook herself and jumped into the fray.

Between the two of them it wasn't much of a fight and soon all three Sith lay dead on the floor. Kyle looked up at Jaden, grinning, the excitement of battle ablaze in his eyes, he looked almost ten years younger.