The Fallen Star (Star Wars: The High Republic)

by Claudia Gray

Seconds before, Elzar Mann had been a Jedi, a hero, a man on a mission to save lives. Now he stood there a murderer. He looked down at the bisected corpse lying near his feet and thought he might be sick. “Evacuate immediately,” the computer voice repeated, over and over. “Warning. Collision imminent.” Elzar knew he had to move. The others needed his help. Still, even glancing away from the dead body of the woman he had just murdered felt like a desecration. All the work he’d done with Orla Jareni on Ledalau. All his good intentions. All the progress he’d arrogantly believed he’d made. Every bit of it had vanished in one spark of rage. That was all it had taken to tear down Elzar Mann. Then, as sharply as though she were still alive, Orla’s voice sounded in his head: What if you took a break from your self-pity and did something productive for a change? “Forgive me,” Elzar said to the dead woman on the floor. Then he steeled himself to do everything he still could.