Free Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn

the highest-ranking non-Jedi in the Army of Light’s Second Legion.
    “These the prisoners?” the major asked gruffly, pointing his blaster rifle at the mercenaries.
    Johun nodded. Ledes gave a tilt of his head, and his subordinates moved in quickly to slap restraints on the enemy soldiers. Neither made any attempt to resist. Once their wrists were secured they were frisked and stripped of their weapons, then marched off toward the vessel. The whole encounter was conducted with the efficiency and competence that were the hallmarks of all troops serving under Major Ledes’s command.
    “You picked up Irtanna’s message?” Johun asked as he watched the Sith minions being led away.
    “We were in the area,” the officer replied. “Farfalla sent me to come get you.”
    Something in his tone caught the young Jedi’s attention. “Am I in trouble?”
    The officer shrugged. “Hard to say. You Jedi tend to keep a tight rein on your emotions. But I bet the general wasn’t too happy when he found out you disobeyed a direct order and snuck down here.”
    “Don’t worry,” Johun replied confidently. “He’ll change his tune when he hears what those prisoners have to tell him.”
    Bane throttled back the swoop bike’s engine as they approached the small clearing that served as the Valcyn ’s landing site. Originally presented as a gift to Lord Qordis, the vessel had been commandeered by Bane when he left the Academy on Korriban to seek out the knowledge of the ancient Sith. Qordis had never dared to try to take it back, and his cowardice had simply confirmed Bane’s decision to abandon his studies and turn his back on the Brotherhood.
    He brought the swoop to a stop twenty meters from the ship. Zannah released her grip on his waist and jumped off, then stood staring at the vessel.
    Bane wasn’t paying attention to her; the last ten minutes he’d had trouble focusing on anything but the paincarving up his skull. He’d hoped delving into the depths of the shimmering orb left behind by the thought bomb might somehow relieve the headaches, but if anything they’d gotten worse since their visit to the cave.
    At least he’d been able to confirm that Kaan was truly dead. That made it easier for him to dismiss the ghostly form that materialized just then on the far side of the clearing. Pale beneath the late-afternoon sun, it was undeniably the image of the man who had founded the Brotherhood of Darkness.
    Bane knew it was nothing but a hallucination, yet there was something compelling about the figure as it crossed the clearing to stop a meter or so away from the ship. The spirit turned and fixed him with a steady gaze, then reached out a beckoning hand.
    “She’s beautiful,” Zannah breathed. Darth Bane snapped his head around in surprise. But his apprentice was staring raptly at the Valcyn herself. When Bane turned his attention back to where Kaan had been standing, the specter had vanished once again.
    “I never thought I’d be leaving Ruusan in a ship like this,” Zannah said.
    “You aren’t,” Bane said as he stepped off the swoop. There was nothing he could do about the hallucinations other than act as if they didn’t exist.
    The young girl turned to look back at him, confused. “We’re not taking your ship?”
    “I am,” her Master replied. “But you must find your own way off this world.”
    It took a moment for his words to register with the girl. When they did, her expression became one of utter shock. “I … I can’t come with you?”
    The big man shook his head. Spurred on by Zannah’s discovery of the ancient tome in the Sith camp, he’d come up with a plan. He was heading to Dxun, Onderon’s oversized moon, to seek out the lost tomb ofFreedon Nadd. But he had other ideas for his apprentice.
    “But … why not? What did I do?” the young girl choked out, clearly on the verge of tears. “Why are you leaving me?”
    “This is part of your training,” Bane explained. “To understand