He struck downward into the pit beside them, his blade slicing out a lopsided ellipse of armor plate that dropped into darkness below and clanged to an unseen floor.

“Geptun!” he roared. “NOW!”

Flashes of battle:

—shadows fleeing the bunker as swarms of screaming electric blue blaster bolts rebounding off walls shoot them to rags—

—a flood of troopers spreading into a wave through the doorway, weapons gouting lightning-colored energy, Geptun in the middle of them, head down and running, datapad cradled like a baby in his arms—

—a buzzing shield of silver flame that sliced through a blaster rifle so that it exploded and took with it the trooper’s hands—

These images burned in Mace’s brain as he fought for his life against the woman who should have been his daughter.


- Shatterpoint, Chapter 23