Follow former Jedi turned saber-for-hire monster hunter Ty Yorrick in this adventure-packed High Republic miniseries by Cavan Scott and Rachael Stott!
Ty begins the trek up Temple Peak, but the mountain's hungry creatures and slippery edges put her rusty Force skills to the test. Dangerous monsters, cliffs, and battles are second nature for Ty, though. But dealing with people? Well, that may be the hardest part of her mission…
CHAPTER 2: Weaver attack
On Temple Peak, Ty Yorrick stands with her lightsaber ignited and calls out to the person following her, warning that they are about to become a Rock Weaver's supper as the person screams inside a spider-spun cocoon. Cutting the cocoon loose, Ty continues that she can't have the person dead until she has answers. The spider, however, hits Ty in the face with a blob of webbing that solidifies on her face, as KL-03 expresses concern over the coms, asking what's happening and if she's okay. Ty says she can't breathe, responding sarcastically to Kayel's obvious statement in response. The admin unit asks if there is nothing Jedi she can do, and Ty retorts that she is not a Jedi. Kayel responds that she was, and surely that counts for something?
Ty flashes back to her Jedi training, remembering Cibaba instructing his Padawan on the use of the Force power taming beasts, telling her to feel the connection with two minds as one. She reaches into the Force and tries to do it to the Rock Weaver, but the presence of another mind throws her off of the task. Deciding to ignore subtlety, Ty uses telekinesis to crush the spider under a fall of boulders while rescuing her cocooned pursuer. Over the comms, Kayel asks her what in the Maker's name she is doing. Watching the spider fall off the mountain, Ty says she was buying them some time, but adds that it won't matter if she can't find a way to breathe. Having checked the records, Kayel informs Ty that Rock Weaver webbing is highly susceptible to certain sound waves; when Ty asks if she is supposed to scream at it, Kayel quietly quips that it would make a difference from screaming at her droids. After confirming that Ty has her sonic cutter, Kayel tells her to set the frequency to level three, saying it is very important she get it right as they have zero margin for error.
Activating the cutter, Ty clears her face of the webbing, but finds her ears are ringing and she can barely hear Kayel, although she says that the most important thing is that the Rock Weaver is gone. Commenting that she wants to see what the spider was saving for dinner, Ty blasts the webbing away from her invisible pursuer. The individual flees, but Ty ensnares the person's legs with a bola while commenting that she thinks the two of them have played hide-and-seek for long enough. Ty draws her lightsaber and tells the invisible person they have a choice: they can show themselves, or she will leave them there for the Rock Weaver.
Left with no choice, the invisibility fades away to reveal the Segredo Ty met on Blarrum, who introduces himself as Drewen Qweebjillan. Ty doesn't care, but he interrupts her to explain that he got to Loreth by stowing away on her starship, talking about how his species can make themselves invisible, which comes in handy as there are only a few of them these days. She tells him to shut up, which confuses him as he thought she wanted to know how he's here. Ty says he didn't let her finish, and, threatening him with her lightsaber, says that she wants to know why he's here, demanding to know why he is following her and who he works for. Drewen says he's not working for anyone; he's there because of who and what Ty is: a Jedi. Exasperated, Ty says that she is not a Jedi. She briefly flashes back to a moment in her past: as a Padawan, standing with her lightsaber drawn in a structure where the word "Jedi" reverberated at her throughout its halls.
Trying to remove the bola, Drewen asks Ty if she's okay, and she snaps at him that of course she isn't, given she nearly suffocated and gained a stowaway in the course of a few minutes. Drewen is confused by Ty's denial, noting that she uses the Force ("Barely.") and has a lightsaber, which Ty says she's very close to using, as Drewen says that given that, she must be a Jedi. Abruptly whirling around to cut Drewen free of the bola, Ty snaps that that isn't how it works and that he has no idea what he's talking about. Drewen asks her to teach him, responding to Ty's incredulous question by explaining that is the reason he's here, as he'd always wanted to be a Jedi but never had the chance. Ty says that he still doesn't, firmly stating that she is no teacher and that he needs to leave. Drewen doesn't know where he'd go, but Ty doesn't know or care, remarking that saving him cost her the last job she took, and she does not intend to make the same mistake twice. Angrily apologizing, Drewen says he's sorry to have bothered Ty as he runs off, although she doubts that.
As Ty re-mounts her lyuna, Kayel is incredulous that that is how she intends to leave things off. Ty sarcastically asks the droid for her opinion, and Kayel points out that she was only going to say it's getting late and it will be dark by the time the boy gets off the mountain. Ty claims that she doesn't even slightly care, but looks back into the gathering night and sighs. Shivering, Drewen heads down through a thickening snowfall, telling himself that everything is going to be fine, but is startled when someone suddenly disagrees with him: Ty. Drewen says she changed her mind, and she corrects him: she still has no intention of training him, but despite his clever tricks, he'll never make it down alone without breaking his neck or getting eaten. Ty tells him he can camp with her for the night, but must leave by first light. Thrilled, Drewen tells her she won't regret it and that she'll barely even know he's there.
Drewen is not able to keep his promise, and as Ty gathers branches, he recounts the tale of how his home village was attacked by marauders, who overpowered the people, who were not fighters. Taking all those who were strong enough to work, the pirates loaded their captives onto their ship. Drewen was lucky, as he was with his brother. Then, however, something happened with hyperspace, with ships across the quadrant being thrown out of their lanes, something they called the Great Disaster. The incident gave the prisoners a chance to fight back, and Drewen's brother pushed him into an escape pod, but didn't make it himself. Ty says she's sorry, but Drewen says that it is what it is: his brother saved his life but he will never be able to thank him.
Drewen says that he knows his brother would want him to go on, and that he told him stories of the Jedi when he was younger, and about what they could do. Ty says that he has no idea what they're like. Drewen asks her to tell him, saying that even though she says she's not a Jedi, she must have been one with the way she moves. He asks her what happened, wondering if she left or was kicked out. Ty says he asks a lot of questions, and Drewen responds that he's just interested, and he wants to know everything. Remembering, Ty says that that's how it starts…
A decade before, Padawans Tylera and Klias Teradine climb up a steep face of Mount Bikja. Klias tells Tylera to just imagine what they'll find, all the answers they've been searching for. Tylera points out that he's the one who's been looking for those answers, but Klias goes on with excitement at being able to find out what the Yallow believed and why they disappeared. When Tylera points out that Master Cibaba says that some things are best left unknown, Klias retorts that Cibaba is wrong and they need to do this if they are going to be Jedi. Tylera finishes Klias' point: "If we're going to be better Jedi, we need to understand the dark side so we can fight it." Klias says that it's no good sticking their heads into the sand like ucalots, but Tylera responds that maybe she likes being a ucalot, because it's safe. Before she can finish her sentence, her foothold breaks under her, and she screams as she falls.
Klias catches her, somehow standing sideways on the nearly-sheer cliff face. When Tylera asks him how he's doing that, he says that he asked questions, and Master Illaga showed him in the teachings of Sabracci Sages. Tylera asks if they were Jedi, and he says they weren't, his point being that they shouldn't limit themselves to Jedi teachings when there's so much else out there to learn. The two reach the top of the cliff, and, indicating the Yallow Shrine, Klias says they can learn from places like this. As Klias cuts an entry hole, Tylera, noting that Illaga showed Klias the Zeffonians teachings, asks if he knows the two Padawans are there. Klias says that of course he doesn't, stating that for exploring a Yallow Shrine, Illaga would put the two on sanitation duty for a month. Pushing open his hole, Klias imagines what Illaga will say when the two apprentices bring back something important: a new understanding of how the dark side works and how it seduces people. The two enter, Klias saying how useful his hoped-for discoveries will be while Tylera is unsettled by the eerie reflections of the two Padawans around the shrine's interior.
The Yallow, however, left behind booby traps, and Tylera quickly knocks Klias to the ground, taking them out of the path of a barrage of arrows which strike a wall. Shaken, Klias thanks her, and Tylera reminds him that their expedition won't be of any use if they wind up pinned like an . Tylera muses that the cultists clearly didn't want their secrets uncovered, but Klias dismisses it as a trap to frighten would-be temple-raiders. When Tylera asks if the two of them aren't temple-raiders, Klias ignites his lightsaber and says they're uncovering history to better understand it. He says she needs to stop worrying, as the Yallow are dead and gone and there is nothing in the temple that can hurt them — but grotesque faces dance on the walls…
In the present, Drewen asks Ty to tell him how she became a monster hunter, since she clearly doesn't want to talk about being a Jedi. He says that's what she does, such as going after the Gretalax, and asks her what the first monster she faced was, assuming it was scary. Ty agrees that it was terrifying, briefly remembering her Padawan self, frightened and brandishing her lightsaber at an unseen foe. Drewen asks her what she did, wondering if she trapped it or cut off its head, and Ty, remarking that he wants to know what she did, says that she shut it up once and for all while startling the Segredo with her means of lighting a fire. Taking the hint, Drewen takes that as a cue to mind his own business and go to sleep, apologizing that he didn't mean to pry, while Ty's eyes look saddened.
In the middle of the night, something spooks the lyuna into waking up, and as a groggy Ty is also awakened, the creature flees while Ty calls after it. Drewen asks what's going on, and Ty explains. When he asks if it's the spiders, Ty tells him to be quiet as something's coming, turning in time to effortlessly intercept Pela as the girl attempts to leap at her from behind, wielding a stick. Easily disarming the girl, Ty identifies her as being from Wyke Town and is impressed by how she nearly snuck up on her, without turning invisible, and tosses the stick in Drewen's direction while suggesting he ask her to be his teacher. Pela attacks Ty again, who throws her off while noting the girl's tenacity. She grabs Ty's blaster from the ground and fires, but as Ty deflects the shots with her lightsaber, she realizes that Pela is desperate, asking her what is wrong with her.
One of the deflected bolts frightens the girl, and Pela loses her balance and falls off the cliff edge. Ty plants herself on the edge and reaches out, catching her with telekinesis. Drewen, impressed, asks if she can lift her higher, but it's too much for Ty, who tries to pull Pela high enough to grab her hand. The memory of Klias Teradine telling her he had her, however, breaks Ty's concentration, and to her dismay, Pela falls. Drewen tells Ty it isn't her fault, that Pela scared away the lyuna and attacked her and she couldn't help it. Ty tells him to go back to sleep, brushing him off when he asks how she is. Staring down, Ty apologizes, telling the lost girl that she is so sorry. She tried, but she is sorry.
At sunsrise, Ty demands to know where Drewen thinks he's going. Drewen reminds her that she told him to leave at first light, but Ty says that was before they lost the lyuna, as she now needs someone to carry the supplies. Thrilled, Drewen agrees, but Ty tells him not to push it when he calls her "Master". Drewen says that he wouldn't dare.
- Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures — The Monster of Temple Peak TPB
- Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures — The Monster of Temple Peak and Other Stories