Ryn took a deep breath, letting the cool morning air fill her lungs. It was fresh and clean, smelling of trees, soil, and...was that smoke? Memories of the campfire in the forest clearing and Ben's training group floated to the surface of her thoughts, but she did her best to push them away. Ben was gone. She wasn't going to allow him a place in her mind anymore.

She stepped off the path she had been following and sat down on a large stone at the edge of the trees. The moon had already set, but the starlight overhead was bright enough to give her a dim view of her surroundings.

She knew she should have stayed in her room—she had never seen Vala in such a panic, and she hated to go against her orders—but Ryn had never been able to stand the feeling of being trapped inside. Even as a child, when her uncle would lock her in her bedroom for days at a time, she found a way to climb out the window and escape to the freedom of the forest below. It was the one place she felt at peace.

Ryn crossed her legs and tried to relax, letting her mind slip toward a state of mediation as Master Yevara had taught her. It was easier out here, somehow, without the constraint of four walls pressing in on her. After only a few moments she could feel her consciousness begin to settle, like a boat supported by the surface of a river. Carefully, she reached out to the forest around her, and a flood of sensation washed over her. There was so much life here, and Ryn could feel every bit of it. Much of it was blurred, just splashes of color and warmth, but in some places the details broke through—tiny insects crawling up the trunk of a tree; fresh green tendrils still curled up within a seed, waiting to sprout; a mother spineburrow nestled beneath the ground with her young. Everything was peaceful, in balance.

Stretching out further, she let the forest fill her consciousness. The colors blurred, most of the details lost in the sheer density and diversity of the life that surrounded her. Vague impressions brushed against her senses, like ripples in the Force. Peace. Rest. Security.

A violent shiver ran through her.

Something…

Fear.

Something was wrong…

Pain.

The forest…

Burning.

Dying.

Ryn fell backwards off the stone as the shock coursed through her. For a moment she couldn't breathe—the pain, the searing heat was so fresh in her mind that she could almost feel it ripping through her lungs. So much life, just...gone, in an instant. Leaving only chaos in its place.

She found her breath again and opened her eyes, half-expecting the forest to be in flames around her. But everything was dark and quiet, just as it had been before. Darker, in fact.

She looked up. One by one, the stars were winking out of existence, casting both sky and land in an inky blackness.

"How many, Master Korlez?"

The Nautolan turned to face Master Yevara as he stepped up beside him. "Twenty," he said. "Though only five Force-users, from what I can tell."

The four Masters who remained in Luke's absence, along with three of the instructors, had gathered outside the rear entrance. Master Yevara surveyed the forest spread out before them—a pale orange glow was creeping up from the horizon below the trees, but it was not yet near dawn. He could smell the smoke now.

"What are they thinking?" said the younger man on Master Yevara's other side. "Five Force-users against a Jedi Academy? They'll be slaughtered. We might as well not have bothered with the evacuation."

"Do not be so quick to underestimate your opponent when you do not yet know who you are facing," said Master Yevara. "I assume you have noticed the craft directly above us?"

The man looked up, and even in the dim light Master Yevara could see him pale. "Is that…?"

"An Imperial Star Destroyer," said Master Korlez.

"The First Order?"

"The First Order, yes," said Master Yevara. "But worse than that, I should say. That Destroyer is Snoke's personal ship."

Master Korlez shook his head, heavy tentacles swaying from side to side. "That's impossible. None of the Force-users I can sense are anywhere near that powerful."

"He may not be physically present for the battle, but he is in command—there can be no doubt of that. A being as powerful as Snoke is no less dangerous at a distance than he would be were he standing in front of you. And Ben Solo, young as he is, should not be taken lightly, either."

"So Ben is among them," said Master Korlez. "I had hoped I was mistaken."

"No, your senses were correct. I fear he has been under Snoke's influence for some time."

They fell silent, and Master Yevara could hear the sharp snapping of the trees as they burned, sense the blazing heat of the flames; they were moving quickly. All around him, he felt the others preparing for the fight—the younger instructors were growing tense, struggling to stay calm in spite of the nervous energy flowing through them.

"Remembering to breathe, will, I believe, improve our chances substantially, Mr. Brelin." The young man to Master Yevara's right looked startled, but nodded, inhaling rather sharply. Master Yevara laid an encouraging hand on his shoulder.

"What we have here is worth defending," he said, turning back to face the trees. "The lives of our students are worth defending. Center your focus on that truth and neither fear nor anger will overtake you."

A gust of wind rushed over them, hot and smoky and filled with glowing embers that settled like red-hot snowflakes on their robes and the ground at their feet. Moments later, a wall of flame burst through the trees with a roar, then slowed to a stop a dozen yards ahead of them.

Not natural fire, then. Master Yevara glanced up at the Star Destroyer hovering above them. You never could resist the chance to put on a show, could you?

He felt a shiver of anticipation run through the group behind him, but their minds were steady. They were prepared—as prepared as they would ever be.

The flames parted in the center like a row of curtains being thrown open, revealing a group of masked, hooded figures in a V-formation. The figure at the head of the V stayed silent—it was the man to his right who spoke, and even through the mask his voice was unmistakable.

"Ryn Starling," he said. "Hand her over to us and we'll leave the children unharmed."

Master Yevara sighed. "You should know better than to try to lie to me, Ben," he said. "You have no intention of leaving the children unharmed, whether I give you Ryn Starling or not—which, of course, I will not be doing."

Ben lowered his hood, his face still hidden by the heavy black mask. "I'm disappointed, old man," said Ben. "But not surprised. Just remember that you could have made this easy."

He raised one arm straight out in front of him, sending a small, rounded object shooting through the air. As it flew toward him, Master Yevara lifted his hand casually and froze the object in place, inches from his palm. He plucked it out of the air with two fingers, holding it up to examine it. It was disc-shaped, slightly curved, with a bulge in the center from which a short needle protruded.

"And what would this have done, then, hmm?" he said. "Incapacitate me? Cut off my connection to the Force? No." He dropped the object to the ground and crushed it beneath his foot. "You'll have to do better than that, I think."

Ben clenched his hand into a fist at his side, the only outward indication of the fury that was raging inside him. Vaguely, Master Yevara registered the sound of the Academy door opening and felt the presence of others joining them.

"Master Skywalker firmly believes there is yet good in you," he said. "But in this one instance I do not agree with him. Ben Solo, as he once existed, has been gone for some time."

"Ben?"

It was Mal Veran's voice. She had pushed her way through the group of older students that had gathered behind him, anger radiating from her in waves.

"How could you...you coward!" Master Yevara laid a hand on her shoulder to calm her, but she shook it off, taking another step forward. "Why don't you at least show your face while you betray us? Or are you—"

Before she could finish speaking, Ben raised his hand and threw her backwards off the ground, hurtling her toward the solid stone wall of the building with enough force to—

"Enough!" Master Yevara stretched out with the Force and caught her before she could slam into the wall, lowering her gently to the ground. "I have been patient with you, Ben—perhaps too patient. But no longer. Abandon this foolishness, or I will not hesitate to do whatever is necessary to protect this school and its students."

Ben laughed, the sound from beneath the mask cold and hollow. He pulled a black lightsaber hilt from his belt and ignited it, the flare of red light nearly blending into the flames surrounding him.

"I look forward to seeing you try."