REDEMPTION OF THE JEDI

by Aaron Burr



PROLOGUE


Jacen Solo hangs in the white.
This very thought surprises him for two reasons. One of which was that, some eons
ago, he had hung in the Embrace of Pain and had first learned of the white. Torture, in
other words. The other reason was that his last memory was of seeing his sister
bearing down on him, a violet blade of light destroying his life.
Thats when the memories start to flood in. Lumiya, a Lady of the Sith, his
mentor, guiding him toward his ultimate victory of control of the galaxy. Except it didnt
work out like he thought he would. So many had died. Even people close to him.
Control was supposed to be for the betterment of all Galactic Alliance planets. But
instead he had gotten lost in his determination, too involved with the end result and not
focusing on the means with which he would get there.
His memories travel backwards and he remembers Vergere, also a mentor. The
only difference being that Vergere wanted to free him from his limitations, help him think
beyond light and dark, Jedi and Sith. What had happened to him? He had forgotten so
much of her wisdom in his search for power. Lumiya had even lied and said that
Vergere was a Sith.
These revelations come to him in an instant, or an eternity. Here, time doesnt
exist. But where is he? Some planets formed religions that said one would enter into
paradise after death. Some even suggested that you would be rewarded for the good
you did in the world; or pay for the evil you inflicted. The Jedi often talked about
becoming one with the Force after death. Jacen never really considered what that
meant until now. He does not feel oneness, only awareness.
A thought gradually floats toward him, merges with his mind, and finally becomes
comprehensible. He has no idea how these thoughts are coming to him, or even how
they are formed, yet they seem to be telling him something. They are saying, its time to
go back.
Back? Back where?
to your life, jacen solo.
Why?
there is much to be done.



PART I
The Bond

CHAPTER 1

When he awoke, he found an unusual taste in his mouth. Familiar, but unusual.
A few standard minutes later he realized he was lying on his stomach. A torrent
of rain also pounded on his back and head. Then he recognized the taste.
Blood.
He immediately started coughing and spitting, getting the blood out of his mouth,
but it wasn't working too well because he was face down in the mud. He had to move,
he had to get up. His muscles ached worse than he could ever remember. They
resisted his will to move.
The pain, he found, was overwhelming. This seemed odd to him because he
was conditioned by Vergere and the Embrace of Pain to withstand it. Pain was nothing
to him. If anything, it made him stronger. And yet he felt paralyzed by it. Slowly,
achingly, he forced his arms up above his head, put his palms down in the mud, and
pushed with everything he had. He let out a yelp and a grunt as he put himself in a
sitting position.
That simple effort cost him his breath. He panted, exhausted. All the questions
that came to him were so many that they muddled his mind. Out of instinct he reached
out as he had so many times before, seeking the one thing that would help him.
The Force.
But he couldn't feel it. However, this wasn't like when Vergere took his Force
abilities away. He could somehow sense it, but it was as if he forgot how to use it. As if,
he were a beginner. Which seemed strange to him because he was born with gifts in
use of the Force. Certainly he had had to train to hone those abilities, but his ability to
touch the Force was second-nature. Not anymore, apparently.
He slowly began to take in his surroundings, but first realizing that he was
completely naked. It was raining, and it was dark. He couldn't make out shapes or
forms, only that the higher his gaze went, the lighter his surroundings seemed. He rose
his head as high as he could, and that's when he saw it.
The gas giant. But not just any gas giant. It was Yavin. And by reasoning he
must be on Yavin IV.
He remembered hearing from his brother Anakin about what the Yuuzahn Vong
had done to this small moon. It became little more than an industrial park for them, but
most depressingly was the fact that they had completely leveled each and every ancient
temple on the planet. The structures that formerly acted as the Rebel base and then
Jedi Academy were gone, replaced by organic machines that churned out material
needed for the Yuuzahn Vong war effort.
Subtly he entertained the idea that he was not much different from this place.
Part Jedi, part Vong.
Somehow he managed to stand, though he stumbled a couple times trying to
regain his balance. He glanced around him, looking for anything familiar, anything that
would give him a direction to walk. He saw that the planet was not quite as dark as his
eyes first told him. Bio-luminescent plants were everywhere he looked, obviously Vong-
formed, as he remembered no such plants on this moon in the past. Not enough for him
to be able to see where he was going, but it was better than no light at all. The gas
giant provided only a minimal orange glow to the surface of the moon.
Jacen realized, hopelessly, that he was alone. Alone on a planet that no human
he knew would ever return to to find him. He didn't have the Force, not even the
strength he gained under Vergere's guidance. Thinking of Vergere brought back a
memory, one so faint that it seemed less than a dream. He recalled another instance,
waking up on a strange world. Except that that time it was Coruscant, or rather
Yuuzhan'tar, the planet that the Yuuzhan Vong had made out of what remained of
Coruscant. The first time he saw it, he was sickened. Not by the planet itself, but what
it represented: everything changes; the only permanence is death.
Or perhaps not, he thought wryly. I mean, I'm here. I'm alive. Death must not be
as permanent as I thought.
There was a third option to his potential escape from Yavin 4, however, and this
one gave him pause. Of all people, his twin sister Jaina would be aware of hisreturn?
However, this was when he realized that their twin bond was not even active.
Carefully, reluctantly, he pushed with his mind into the center of his chest. Only a
single thought needed to be conveyed, and was certain to get her attention:
I am alive.

Jaina let out an involuntary yelp. She almost felt as if she had been stabbed
through the center of her chest, before she realized what it was.
They had been enjoying a quiet evening. Jagged Fel, her husband, sat across
from her at the dining room table in their new apartment. The nerf steak they were
eating was delicious. Jaina had reached across the table to grab Jag's hand in a loving
manner, as they had so few private moments together, and that's when it happened.
Whatwhat did I do?, Jag said, alarmed and worried he had somehow
inadvertently hurt her when he grabbed her hand.
Jaina just started shaking her head and grasping at her chest as if there were
some sort of creature attempting to crawl out of it. She took an unnaturally deep breath.
Jaina, you're scaring me!, Jag's voice was elevated now.
Can't, was all Jaina could get out.
What? Can't what? You can't breathe?, Jag replied.
It can't be.
What?
Ja, she managed only to let that two letters pass through her lips.
Jag thought worryingly that she was trying to say his name. Hey, honey, come
on, what's wrong?. His voice was calmer now, hoping that he could project his own
composure onto her.
Jaina suddenly exhaled the air she had been holding in. She stopped holding
her chest, looking at her hands which were now trembling. When she looked up, her
eyes were haunted. A sharp chill went up Jag's spine.
He's alive.
Who?, Jag asked.
Jacen, she replied slowly.
What? What are you talking about?
I'm saying he's alive. I don't know how orhow? How can that be?
Jag sat back in his chair, partly wondering if Jaina had lost her mind, and partly
concerned that she was telling the truth. He was aware of the twin bond that she
shared with her brother, and that there were many things about the Force that he did not
understand.
He looked her in the eyes and said, It's going to be okay, alright?, though he
honestly wasn't sure if it would be, reaching out to grab her hand again.
Jaina pulled her hand away and didn't reply. She simply got up from the table,
moved down the hall and went out the door.
She did this so quickly that Jag struggled to keep up. Jaina! Where are you
going?
To see Uncle Luke, she replied tersely, now sprinting down the hall of their
apartment building.

Jacen closed off the twin-bond.
He wasn't ready to see Jaina. He merely wanted her to know he was back. That
brief contact would not divulge his location, only his existence.
He stood in the mud. Thinking. Trying to comprehend what had happened and
what was going to happen.
The understanding did not hit him like a blast bug, but rather like a slow tide
coming in from the ocean's of Ithor. This was not about him at all. Being resurrected
was not a gift for him, but rather for those he knew. The Jedioh, the Jedi would be
fascinatedor terrified. Never before in history had anyone in the Order been brought
back to life after having been dead forwell, he didn't know how long he had been dead
(he wasn't sure that constructs such as time were relevant in his case).
He had heard all the stories about Ben Kenobi, how he had guided Uncle Luke
even after his death, coming in the form of a blue-glowing specter. He was also aware
of the legend of Exar Kun, the Lord of the Sith, as well as Emperor Palpatine himself,
both of whom were able to cling to their spirit form and take another's body as a host to
continue their existence.
Jacen's situation surpassed that by light-years. Jacen had not wanted this, had
not even imagined it. He had been brought back for a purpose. He just didn't know
what that purpose was specifically.
Redemption from the darkness was something that Jacen had heard of and
experienced in his former life. Darth Vader turned against the emperor in his last
moments of life. When Jaina had thrust her violet lightsaber through Jacen's chest, he
had merely moments to realize all that he had done wrong. For his own sister to kill
himit probably damaged her more than it did him.
One thing was for sure, he figured: people would hate him. He had caused
unthinkable chaos in the galaxy, as his alter ego Darth Caedus, in what he thought was
the service of peace. He would have to be held accountable for that. Which, as he
understood, he had to avoid, because somehow he had important work to do. He
couldn't do that while imprisoned.
He wasn't sure where on Yavin 4 he was, but considering what the Vong had
done to the planet, he knew that even if he did know, he probably wouldn't recognize it.
He wasn't discouraged, however, because while there may not be any republic space
ships at his disposal, there would be coral skippers, the fighter ships used by the
Yuuzhan Vong.
For any other Jedior non-Force sensitive beingthis would be a problem. For
Jacen, it was a simple matter of reaching into the spectrum of the Force that
encompassed the Vong. He had first accomplished this on the worldship over
Coruscant. His gift in the Force had always been communication with other living
species, animals and the like. Eventually, he had discovered how to tap into that ability
with Vong-formed creatures. Each and every device made by the Vong was
biological, and therefore perceptible to Jacen's mind.
Flying a coral skipper would be child's play.
He reached inside his chest cavity with his mind, seeking out the connection he
had had as a result of a slave seed having been implanted there by none other than
Vergere herself. However, all he felt was his own flesh and blood.
No slave-seed web. No cavity where one had been. In fact, there was no trace
of a slave seed having ever been inserted there.
He looked down at his chest, expecting to find the scar that was left from its
removal.
Nothing. Just plain, pale skin.
Something was obviously wrong about his assumptions. Perhaps, having been
resurrected this was not the same body, or maybe he had been healed. He had no
idea, could never really know what had happened. He could only remember the white.
And the voice.
It was somehow familiar, in a way he could not describe even to himself. He
wondered if, perhaps, Vergere had been speaking to him from the beyond. It would
figure. She seemed to be everywhere he went, in one form or another. But he was
certain it wasn't Vergere. He was aware at that moment that the voice had not been
alien, it had been human. Also, female.
He wondered why it seemed so important to figure out who was speaking to him,
but that thought suddenly triggered a flare of emotion in his chest.
Allana.
His daughter. How he could have gone all this time without thinking of his
daughter! Though he knew that, just like Jaina and Uncle Luke would undoubtedly
meet him with hostility, when he finally returned to Coruscantassuming he would
return to CoruscantAllana would not greet him with open arms.
He still wasn't sure what the date was, how long he had been gone, but he ached
to know where she was and who she was with.
Because of the secrecy surrounding his daughter's identity, Allana had been
going by the name Amelia and cared for by his own parents, under the assumption that
she was their adopted daughter.
The logic behind all the mystery was that Allana was the offspring of Tenel Ka,
the Hapan Queen Mother and Jedi Knight. Allan's identity put her in danger, as the
Hapan hierarchy was murky. Assassinations were commonplace. Even Tenel Ka had
to watch her own back, but there was little danger there, as there are very few ways to
surprise a Jedi.
However, there was an unspoken fear regarding Allana's future. She was heir to
the Hapan throne, yes, but there was something else. Something that Jacen had not
told anyone about. It was no longer secret, though, as Luke Skywalker himself had
seen what Jacen had seen.
The future.
After the Yuuzahn Vong war, and Vergere's training, he had spent 5 years
sojourning the galaxy, learning from non-Jedi Force users, alien species who used and
thought of the Force in ways that would seem strange to a Jedi. The Aing-Ti, the
Fallanassi, The Sorcerers of Tundthese were among the groups that he had studied
with. His understanding of the Force and his abilities to use it had been greatly
enhanced, or rather they had been expanded.
However, it was during his exploration of the Force that he had encountered a
he didn't even know how to describe it, so he never did. What he saw was not to be
taken lightly. At least, not at the time.
He had told no one about it, but then Uncle Lukefollowing the trail that Jacen
had left during his travels, while he tried to understand what experience Jacen had had
that would drive him toward the dark side and ultimately become Darth Caedushad
stumbled onto it as well.
He knew Luke found it, because he had spoken to him.
After his death.
Jacen's mind reeled for a moment as another memory flooded his mind.
He had had a conversation with Luke. How this was possible he did not know,
but it was starting to come back.
He remembered somehow being submerged in a lake.
A lake full of other dead people.
He was bitter then. Angry. Luke wanted to know why Jacen had become a Sith.
The answer was simple. He saw no other alternative. Not because he was power
hungry, but because he needed the strength to fend off the monster he had seen in a
vision.
Abeloth. And she was a threat to his daughter Allana, according to his vision.
Death, it seemed, had washed away his veniality. He could never take back his
actions, but he could answer for them in a way that would heal the wounds of his
victims. Or as Vergere had once told him, he could be an answer.
His thoughts returned to Allana. What would he saywhat could he say to her
so she would know that he wasn't going to hurt people anymore? This distressed him
the most. Not only because she was his daughter, but because of the secret. The thing
that Uncle Luke had also learned of.
The Pool of Knowledge.
It was a nexus of the dark sideJacen knew better though. It was not darkness
that coalesced there, it was simply the raw unrestrained power of the Force. Jacen had
no fear of this power. Vergere had instructed him to let go of his mental and spiritual
restraints. And he had. That's how he found the Pool.
In it he found a profound truth. He remembered the image that formed in the
Pool, at first confusing, then somewhat frightening.
He had learned that his own reign would not last. Why?
Because a new ruler would have control of the galaxy.
His daughter Allana.
At first he thought he was seeing Tenel Ka, Allana's mother. The long, flowing
red hair was immediately recognizable. But there was something different about her
face. More worryingly, the look in her eyes...
She was strong, but sad.
The image had struck his heart and caused him to stumble away from the Pool.
Now, all he could think about was Allana. How old was she? Had the Pool been
correct, had she truly become ruler of the galaxy? And in what form? Jacen wondered
sadly if her control had come by way of the dark side, that perhaps his actions had
pushed her toward evil.
He stopped thinking for a moment. None of this worry was going to get him off
this moon. He would find out the truth soon enough.
First he had to get out of the rain, recalling abashedly that he was still nude. The
rain seemed to be letting up and the gas giant was shedding more light on the moon.
Scanning the horizon, or tree line, depending on which direction he looked, he sought
out anything familiar, be it human or Vong.
Nothing stood out. Until he looked east, where there were the fewest rain clouds.
It only looked like a hump, but it was tall. Taller than the Massassi Temples had
been that once existed here for thousands of years. He knew instinctively that it wasn't
man-made, and it also didn't fit in with the flora of Yavin 4.
Which meant it was Vong.
He imagined there might be a robeskin there that he could steal. Robeskins
were a Vong-formed living clothing. They looked similar to Jedi robes but the fabric was
actually a living creature that soaked up body fluids to survive. If torn, it would
automatically mend or grow back. Jacen had worn one the entire time he was on
Coruscant/Yuuzhan'tar during the Vong occupation.
It was better than any fabric made in the Republic. He figured it was worth a
look, seeing as how there weren't any other places on the entire moon that he could find
clothing.
Barefoot, naked, exposed... he made his way east.

One of Jacen's unique skills still came in handy.
The wildlife on Yavin 4 had been less than hospitable: crystal snakes, klikniks,
mamiens. All seemingly holding a grudge against him, and he wondered if these
creatures had some sort of extrasensory perception, some way of knowing he had been
the galaxy's enemy for a time.
Fortunately, though he may not have the Force, or his link to Vong lifeforms, he
still had his connection to animals. Just as he had done so many times, such as to coax
an insect into a small transparisteel cage, he connected with the animals that came
close. The crystal snakes, being essentially invisible, especially in the dark, only got to
within several meters of him before he sent calming, non-violent thoughts to them. The
mamiens were the easiest, being ape-like in appearance and probably the most
intelligent of the creatures on Yavin 4.
He remembered grimly that the last time he had had to call on this ability was on
the seedship over Coruscant. He had lured amphistaffs, the Yuuzahn Vong equivalent
to a lightsaberin that they resisted a Jedi's bladeto form up around him and
ultimately act as both shield and sword as he fought his way through the Yuuzahn Vong
troops aboard the ship.
His feet began to hurt halfway to the dome. Walking through a jungle without
boots was one of the less intelligent things he had done, but he really didn't see another
option.
Having spent his childhood on this very moon, training to be a Jedi, he was well
aware of the greenery that existed here. As beautiful as this moon was, it was one of
the more dangerous planets on which he had lived. As a child, exploring and
adventuring here always seemed so harmless, especially since all his friends were Jedi
Knights in training. It wasn't until he was an adult that he really appreciated how lucky
he and his friends had been not to be bitten, poisoned, or stung in a variety of ways.
This, of course, was no comparison to the evil lurking in certain temples once
residing here. But the Yuuzahn Vong had taken care of that. Their path of destruction
had not ended with the Jedi Academy. Exar Kun, an ancient Sith spirit that had resided
in one of those temples but had been long since defeated, would have been enraged to
find that his temple had also been demolished. Truthfully, Jacen was relieved. Despite
the loss of the Jedi Academy, it was worth it if the dark-tainted locations were equally
leveled.
Jacen chuckled, and he didnt know why at first. Then it hit him. He hadnt
thought in terms of light and dark in a very long time. Vergere had liberated him from
such dichotomies. So he found it odd that his thought process had changed so
drastically
While I was dead.
He was watching the ground in front of him, still walking cautiously, when he
finally found himself at the dome.

"I'm telling you Dad, it's him!", Jaina exhaustedly shouted at her father, Han Solo.
They were in the lounge of the Millenium Falcon.
"I'm hearing you, kid", Han said, trying to console his daughter, while at the same
time considering her sanity. Jacen had been dead for a decade.
Jaina was now rubbing her forehead, as if trying to massage away a migrain.
"Look", she started slowly as she lowered her hand and blinked a few times. "I know
how crazy this sounds, but think about it. Jacen was a Sith. Exar Kun came back to
life. The Emperor came back to life. It's far from impossible for these people to
reincarnate. I don't know how, but they can do it. The only thing is", she paused, and
stared silently for a moment.
"What?", her father asked. "What?"
Jaina let out a big sigh, shaking her head and lowering her gaze to the floor. "He
didn't feelI mean he wasn'tI couldn'tUgh!", she stammered, obviously frustrated.
Han sat there patiently, waiting for her to put her thoughts in order.
She looked up again. "I didn't feel the dark side in him".
Han stared at her, waiting for her to say more, but she didn't. "So?"
"'So?' Dad, he tried to take control of the galaxy, he murdered millions! You don't
do things like that with the Force and leave no trace of darkness in you."
"Okay", he paused. "What if he still is Sith and you just can't sense it?", he said,
surprising himself with this leap of logic having to do with the Force, something that had
always been a mystery to him.
Jaina shook her head. "No. No way. Our twin bond is...", she was going to say
"perfect" but that didn't sound right. How perfect could it actually be? She had killed
him herself, had felt his life drain away from his body. And she had wept.
If Jacen was powerful enough to reincarnate, he could be powerful enough to
fool her senses. And then Luke Skywalker walked in.
"Hello you two", he greeted them underneath his cloak hood.
"Master Luke", Jaina bowed shortly. "Thank you for coming."
"Hey Luke, how you doing?"
Luke pulled his hood back and looked at Han, "Not bad. But by the sound of
Jaina's message and what I'm sensing from her in the Force means that it is indeed
bad."
"Jacen's alive", Jaina blurted out.
Luke's eyebrow went up, but he didn't look surprised. Han and Jaina waited as it
seemed Luke was processing the information. "I know", he finally replied.
"You know?", Jaina and Han said at the same time.
Luke nodded matter-of-factly. "Yes. Actually, I sensed something powerful while
I was meditating, some kind of strange ripple that only lasted a moment. But I didn't
know what it was exactly until you contacted me."
Jaina let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Okay... what do we
do?"
Again, Luke paused, this time much longer. Han and Jaina exchanged glances
as they waited. Luke Skywalker seemed to be getting more eccentric these days. He
always seemed preoccupied with other things, or as if he was listening to something
that no one else could hear.
He took a deep breath before speaking. "We could search for him, but I wouldn't
know where to start looking. If he's still into his old ways, finding him could be
dangerous. Not that we couldn't handle him"
"Right", Jaina agreed.
but it seems, he continued, that if he truly is alive, he doesn't want to be
found.
Of course not, Han said. He would have to answer for what he did. There's
going to be a lot of people that are going to want to kill himor worse. He was raising
his voice as he spoke. Jaina put a hand on her father's shoulder. They were all angry,
rightfully.
If he is still as powerful as he was, he'll find us before we find him, Luke went
on. But if his... situation has left him vulnerable, we might have another option. That's
when he looked at Jaina with a knowing gaze.
Her eyes darted between Han and Luke, obviously confused. What?

The dome was not all that disimilar than the facilities on Myrkyr, Jacen reflected.
That was, he noted, the last planet he had been on before his transformation under the
tutelage of Vergere. Like every planet the Vong invaded, they changed Myrkyr to fit
their needs, including a facility for breeding what they called VoxynsForce-sensitive,
quadrupedal Jedi hunters. More importantly was the Voxyn queen, the creature by
which the voxyns themselves were created by Vong shapers. Jacen, Jaina, and their
younger brother Anakin, along with a team of young Jedi they had grown up with, had
had one goal: kill the queen. It was during that mission that some good friends were
lost, including his own brother.
Anakin. The name held much weight. Jacen had been tortured with the loss of
his brother. Secretly he had hoped to see him if he were to die, which had crossed his
mind in his last moments. Apparently that never took place.
After the mission, Jacen had followed Vergere to what she claimed was escape,
which led his captuer, to the Embrace of Pain, the Garden, Yuuzhan'tar...
It was too much to think about right now. Right now he was standing at the
entrance of the dome. Of course, the word entrance did not quite describe what he
was looking at. It was not unfamiliar, however. It reminded him of what he saw on the
worldship, in the room of the Embrace of Pain, but about five times the size.
He looked to each side of the entrance, searching for what would qualify as an
interface that would open the door. Jacen only hoped that it would respond to a
human's touch. He found it on the right side of the door.
He was about to touch it with his hand when it recoiled, producing a high-pitched
sucking noise, and to Jacen's amazement, the door opened slowly like a tired eyelid.
There was another sticky, sucking noise.
Jacen stood in the opening.
That was easy, he said to himself, and then quashed that thought. As his father
would say, As soon as you start thinking something's too easy is when the trap
springs.
Jacen slowly, cautiously crossed the seam where the eyelid had been, stepping
with one foot into the foggy darkness, a typical environment for the Vong. He had no
idea how he was going to see where he was walking, let alone find a robeskin.
As if activated by his thoughts, several glowing spheres ignited with a crackle of
energy. Jacen had to block the light with his arm until he got used to it, since he had
been in nearly complete darkness until now. The lights themselves were familiar. They
had used something similar on the seedship, but that was far more powerful, and
furthermore, was meant to replicate the star around which Coruscant rotated. These
lights were smaller, dimmer, and cast a colder glow.
He gradually lowered his arm to finally take in the view, which was, as usual,
extremely alien. This portion of the dome alone could easily fit the Jade Shadow, Mara
Jade's shuttle, inside it. Thinking of his Aunt Mara, Luke Skywalker's wife, brought on a
wave of sadness. He had murdered her himself.
There were so many mistakes to make up for.

I apologize if this makes you uncomfortable, Uncle Luke said, grimacing.
Uncomfortable? Not at all, Jaina lied. Luke was pressing his palm to the center
of her chest, right where she had always sensed her connection to her brother. The
plan was simple but brilliant on Uncle Luke's part. He would use his advanced Force
knowledge to access the twin bond between Jaina and Jacen, thereby locating Jacen.
I have a bad feeling about this. That was Han. He was pacing the lounge of
the Millenium Falcon, passing by Luke and Jaina who were standing in the middle of the
room.
Dad, will you please relax? Jaina insisted.
Han stopped pacing. Relax? Relax? We're talking about finding Jacen. You
know, the guy who had Admiral Pellaeon murdered? Blasted Kashyyyk from orbit with a
star destroyer? He paused and looked significantly at Luke. Murdered Mara Jade.
Luke turned very slightly to address him. I know, Han. I'm aware of the risk.
But if he finds his way to Coruscant before we find him, things could be much worse.
Locating him should be our priority. If he's a threat.
'If', Han snorted.
Luke shook his head, then looked in Jaina's eyes. Are you ready?
Ready as I'll ever be, Jaina replied. Then Luke closed his eyes and sent a
pulse of the Force into her chest. Jaina was caught off guard by the strength Luke had
in the Force. She had always known how powerful he was, but feeling it first-hand was
something else entirely.
Luke began to focus his touch with the Force toward what felt like a hub. He had
never felt anything quite like it. It wasn't an organ. It wasn't exactly a concentration of
anything physical, but rather of the Force. He could see in his mind's eye a seemingly
unbreakable thread that originated in Jaina's chest that shot off into space and
disappeared in the distance.
What Luke hadn't considered was that tapping into the twin bond would give him
access to thoughts that Jacen and Jaina shared, from the womb, all the way to Jaina
killing her brother, and weaping over his lifeless body.
Luke saw flashes of memories of their growing up; exploring the lower levels of
Coruscant with Zekk, training at the Academy on Yavin 4, the one and only public
ceremony held when they became Jedi Knights, fighting the Yuuzahn Vong, their
consequential brushes with the dark side, their experience with the Killiks...
All of this came to him in flashes, and only over the space of several seconds.
Then Luke began to focus. The link that Jacen and Jaina shared was, to Luke,
comparable to a wormhole in space. No matter how far apart they were, their bond
connected them as if they were at the same location. He found that he could sense
Jacen within Jaina. He also realized that Jacen didn't want to be found. Luke could feel
his resistance, yet he noticed that Jacen didn't have the strength to fight back, to push
Luke out of his mind. He found this curious and decided to set that aside in his mind to
mention it later.
A burst of light blasted Luke's mind. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was strong. He
saw swirled colors, red and orange flowing and mixing, spinning eternally. What sort of
vision was this? The shades and highlights of pigments flooding his view through the
Force, he tried to pull away from the image. That's when he saw it.
A sphere. But not just any sphere.
Yavin, Luke murmered.
What? Jaina asked.
Luke's eyes were still closed but he had removed his hand from her chest. He
was trying to detach himself from the link. It felt like his mind was stretched across the
galaxy. It was a few standard minutes before his eyes opened.
Yavin. I saw Yavin. he stated plainly, knowing what was coming next.
Okay, lets go, Jaina said easily, Han getting to his feet.
Wait, Luke demanded.
What? Han asked.
There's something you should know. I don't think Jacen is a danger.
Ha! Jaina burst out. That's a joke. When was he ever
I'm serious, Jaina, Luke said firmly. He may be able to block you out, but I
sensed him. I don't think he can touch the Force.
That stopped her in her tracks. She didn't reply right away, because she wasn't
sure what to say. I don't believe it.
I don't blame you, Luke replied. I know how implausible it seems, but we have
to look at what we know: Jacen has been, for all intents and purposes, resurrected. We
don't know how or why, so he may not be the same Jacen we knew. His abilities may
be limited.
Han and Jaina both put their palms to their faces. Luke couldn't help but crack a
tiny smile at their obvious genetic similarities.
I know it may be hard to accept, he continued, but I sensed his presence. He
couldn't even resist my touch with the Force.
Jaina began, You're asking me to
I'm asking you to trust me. Or more importantly, trust the Force. None of this
has happened without a purpose.
Jaina and Han gave each other a significant glance, both sighing. Sweetheart,
Han said, better go tell your mother.


CHAPTER 2

They're coming.
These words appeared in his mind as he slipped the robeskin over his head.
The search for the robeskin hadn't been long or difficult. In fact, it had been so easy it
was like he had been there before. Or, he sermized, he had some sort of sense where
to find one. Something to reconsider at a later time.
Right now he had to prepare for whatever fate he faced upon his family's arrival.
He was rather amazed with his Uncle Luke's cleverness, actually. It had never occurred
to Jacen that the twin bond could be manipulated by other Force users. But when he
felt his uncle's mind enter his own, he knew instantly what had transpired, that they
would be on Yavin 4 soon.
What would he say? What would he do? Should he apologize? Would an
apology even mean anything to them after what he had done?
He couldn't know until the moment came. Stepping out from the dome, he made
his way to a clearing that he thought might be big enough to fit the Millenium Falcon,
which he had no doubt would be the ship they would arrive in. He also had a feeling
that it wouldn't be difficult for his sister or uncle to find him.
So he sat in the grass. And waited.



Leia Organa Solo sat in the co-pilot's chair of the Millenium Falcon, staring out
the viewport at the blurring lights and colors of hyperspace. She hadn't said much since
they left orbit from Coruscant. Just the occasional yeah or okay. Her eyes were
glossed over. Not crying, just immobile. Her chin rested on her fist, her elbow on her
knee.
None of this could be real, could it? Jacen had become an evil man, and was
assassinated. He was her son at one time, but had ceased to be so in her eyes once
he had adopted the name Caedus, once he had killed millions in his lust for power.
How could any of this be happening? If any son of hers deserved a second chance it
was Anakin. He had died a hero on the mission to Myrkyr when the Yuuzahn Vong war
was still going. She had felt it in the Force, and broken down in tears. Just the memory
of this, maybe two decades old, made her throat tighten. She squeezed her eyes
closed, forcing a tear to run down her cheek.
Hey, honey, you alright? Han asked from the pilot's seat. It was a stupid
question, of course, but he meant well.
Yeah, she replied, her voice empty. Emotionless.
Han grimaced a little, deciding to let her be, rather than trying to cheer her up.
There was no cheer to be had in a moment like this. He was somewhat beside himself.
He knew that Jacen may be a threat, but he also trusted Luke's judgment, as he had
over the majority of the time he'd known him. Luke could be right in his deduction that
Jacen was no longer a threat. So, Han was more or less looking forward to seeing his
son again.
A tone sounded from the cockpit control board. Han hit the coms button.
Hey everybody, we're coming out of hyperspace. Han pushed the hyperdrive
controls forward.
The mottled swirls of blue outside the cockpit window faded into star lines, and
then the star lines shrunk into pin-pricks of light in the black of space. The gas giant
Yavin loomed ahead. Han hit the coms button again. Alright, we're going to swing
around the gas giant. Shouldn't be more than a few minutes before we reach the
moon.
He glanced over at Leia, noticing she was now sitting up perfectly straight.
However, she looked even more distraught than she did a few minutes ago. What's the
matter? Han asked tentatively.
It's him. It's Jacen. I can sense him now, Leia spoke in a hushed, reverent
tone.
That's good right? Han wondered.
Leia turned to look at him. A kind of haunted expression on her face. It's our
son.
Han looked puzzled. He wasn't sure if she answered his question or not.
Luke and Jaina appeared at the back of the cockpit, taking the rear seats
opposite each other. Neither one spoke. No one really had to.
After a few minutes, the blue-green half disc of Yavin 4 crept into their vision.
Even being the only non-Jedi in the cockpit, Han could feel an overall sense of anxiety
at the sight of the moon. Not many had returned to this planet after what the Vong had
done to it.
He stole a glance back at Luke and Jaina, noticing their eyes were closed,
obviously trying to focus on what Leia had also felt. Before he turned back to the
controls, Luke opened his eyes. Han, would you mind if I took over?
Han merely shrugged and said, Sure. Luke was easily as good a pilot as Han.
Probably better, he admitted begrudgingly to himself, considering his abilities in the
Force. On the other hand, Han knew the Falcon better than anyone, but they weren't
going into battleas far as he knewso he willingly surrendered control to Luke,
standing and giving him room to sit in the pilot's seat. Han, however, remained
standing, leaning over Luke's shoulder. Luke didn't seem to mind.
The moon seemed to tilt on an invisible axis created by the ship, as the Falcon
leveled out for an approach vector. The blue-green haze that enveloped Yavin 4 slowly
became more clear, revealing vast continents, almost entirely swallowed by jungles,
forests, and swamps. From that distance it wasn't obvious what had changed here, but
as Luke turned the yoke of the ship to the west, large domes were apparent, just barely
rising above the tree line.
Having been abandoned by the Vong at the end of the war, they no longer
produced their planet-changing effectsVong-forming as it had come to be called
allowing the moon's environment to stabilize and reach its former equilibrium. Luke
found this heartening. Thoughts of reforming the Jedi Academy came to mindand
then he brought the ship to a full, abrupt halt.
The inertial compensators helped keep Han from flying through the cockpit's from
viewport, but he still had to catch himself on the two front seats.
Luke looked over his shoulder at them, then back out the viewport. He pointed.
Down below the ship was a figure draped in a white robe.
It as Jacen.
Everyone got up and crowded around the front of the cockpit, eyes wide with
wonder and confusion.
Jacen, everyone said with a collective gasp.
Tears welled up in Leia's eyes.
A deep frown formed on Jaina's brow.
Han's jaw hit the floor.
There, in the field, stood Han and Leia's son. Jaina's twin brother. Luke's
nephew. He was dressed in a robeskin, Luke noted. He had seen one similar when
Vergere had returned Jacen to the Galactic Alliance after his captivity with the Yuuzhan
Vong.
Luke's expression was neutral. He began the landing procedure, carefully
placing themselves in the space between the trees that surrounded the space where
Jacen stood. The ship thumped on the ground smoothly as various systems began to
power down, their whines decreasing in pitch until they fell silent.
For a moment no one moved. Then Luke stood up from the pilot's seat, lifted the
hood of his cloak, and began a slow but determined walk to the boarding ramp.
Everyone else fell into step with him, somehow confident that if Luke was leading the
way, they were all safe.
They came down the ramp, ducked out from under the ship and stood as a
group.
Jacen remained where he was, about one-hundred meters away.
For a considerable time, no one did or said anything. Then as if on cue, Jacen
and Luke began their slow pace toward each other. The others followed.
They both stopped walking when they were about ten meters apart. Jacen had
an odd look on his face that Jaina did not recognize. His brow was arched in a
permanent apologetic expression of guilt.
Hello, Jaina, he spoke, barely above a whisper.
Jaina, still frowning, said nothing, but continued to stare into his eyes.
Everyone, thank you for coming, Jacen continued.
Han was the first to pipe up. Jacenhow is this possible? You're dead. I
meanthis just isn't possible. He let out an exasperated sound as he lost the ability to
form coherent thoughts.
I know this is all very confusing, Jacen began again, tentatively. Believe me,
I'm as confused as all of you are. I don't know howI don't know why I am here. I'm
sorry I
Sorry? Jaina repeated. Sorry?! She started pounding her feet on the ground
as she marched straight at him. There was a snap-hiss and a whirl of magenta. Jaina
had her lightsaber mere millimeters from Jacen's neck. He didn't flinch.
Jaina! Leia shouted.
Jaina's voice quivered with rage and sorrow. I killed you once before. I can kill
you again.
That's when she felt it. The link. Jacen had opened the twin bond.
A wild rush of emotions flooded her spirit. Experiences of all the pain that Jacen
had inflicted and pain he had endured were now crystal clear in her mind. All the evil
acts he had committed and all the good deeds he had done before that. But
underneath it all was love. Love for his sister, for his family. For all the people he had
hurt. And hope. Desperate hope that he could be forgiven ultimately.
The lightsaber deactivated itself as it fell to the ground. Jaina stumbled
backwards, her hands clenched at the center of her chest.
Jaina, Jacen began, I don't blame you for how you feel. I was evil. He
paused. I hurt people. I hurt you. I half expected you to kill me when you finally got
here. Or someone would, if not you.
Jacen could now feel Jaina's rage. Their twin bond allowed him to feel what she
had felt; learning from the Mandalorians the best way to kill her brother; the fury that
engulfed her when she had thrust her lightsaber through Jacen's chest; and the
absolute despair as she held her brothers head on her lap.
I'msorry. Jacen's words suddenly had weight to them. Jaina stood and
looked him in the eye, tears streaking down her face.
She didn't know what to say, so she said nothing. She turned to look at her
parents and her Uncle Luke, hoping for a prompt, something she could say to relieve
the fantastically awkward silence. They all looked stunned. As if they were seeing a
ghost. And in a way they were.
Looking back at her brother, she said the only thing she could think to say. The
only thing that she had wanted to say for so long that Jacen's actions had prevented her
from saying
I love you.
Jacen half-laughed, half-sobbed, his words stuck in his throat. I know.
Simultaneously they leaped toward each other and embraced so hard that it hurt.
I missed you so much, she said into Jacen's shoulder.
I missed you too, sis.
They both sighed. They kept holding each other.
Then Jacen pulled away only slightly. What now?
I was wondering the same thing.
People will want me dead. People who can't understand like you do.
I know. Don't worry. We'll figure it out.
When they finally did part from each others arms, the rest of the group had
quietly joined them. Leia stood to Jacen's right, Han on his left. He looked back and
forth between them.
Mom. Dad.
His parents immediately enveloped him in their arms. All three of them wept
silently.
I don't know how, Han said, but I don't care. As long as you've changed, I'm
just happy to have you back.
Me too, Leia agreed. She couldn't think of anything else to say. Ironically it
seemed there was nothing to say. This was a perfect moment that didn't need words
getting in the way.
Jacen. That was Luke. Jacen looked up to meet Luke's eyes. Eyes that
reflected ages of wisdom, often haunted with the experiences, both wonderful and
horrific, that he had been forced through.
Han and Leia separated from Jacen, seeing that Luke had something particular
to say. But Luke didn't move except to lower his hood. Jacen took this as a sign that he
should approach him, and he did, slowly. When he was within two strides of his uncle,
Jacen felt compelled to bow.
To Jacen's surprise, Luke bowed at the same time. When they rose again, Luke
had a glint of humor in his eyes.
It's good to see you again, Jacen.
You too, Uncle LukeMaster Luke, Jacen said awkwardly.
Luke dismissed the use of his title with a wave of his hand. He looked deep into
Jacen's eyes, giving him the impression that he was doing more than just looking with
his eyes. Confirming that, Luke said, You can't touch the Force.
Jacen lower his gaze and blinked. No.
But your twin bond functions.
Yeah.
Interesting.
They stared at each other for a full minute. Jacen began, I
As much as it pains me, Luke interrupted, we have to take you into custody.
Jacen grimaced realizing the inevitable. It's alright. I knew you would have to. I
suppose you have some stun cuffs or an ysalimiri
Luke raised a hand, silencing Jacen. Not yet, he said with a hint of a smile.
Oh. He couldn't think of anything else to say.
We can figure out what to do with you when we get back to Coruscant. For
now, Luke's smile broadened, you have a story to tell.
Jacen simply nodded.

He told Luke everything he knew, which wasn't much, unfortunately.
A voice? What voice? Luke asked, sitting up straight, with a bit of a frown, as
Jacen detailed his experience before he found himself on Yavin 4. They sat opposite
each other in the lounge of the Falcon, the dejarik table between them. The hum of the
hyperdrive, normally something that Jacen found comforting, was now making him sick
to his stomach. A constant reminder of what he was about to face.
Han, Leia, and Jaina were in the cockpit, as Luke had requested.
Much of what Jacen had told Luke was familiar to him, between what he had
studied in the Jedi archives, and his own experiences. But he had never heard of any
Jedi hearing a voice in the afterlife. The Force was not generally personified in such a
way as to have a conversation with someone. In his advancing age, however, his
understanding of the Force was continually changing. He didn't rule anything out
anymore.
I heard a voice, Jacen continued, and it told me I had to return. He was
refusing to meet Luke's eyes. He felt ridiculous recounting the events of the last twenty-
four hours. It sounded crazy to Jacen, but Luke looked fascinated.
Hmm, was the only sound he made as he leaned back in his seat.
Jacen sighed, finally meeting Luke's gaze, but he was looking out into
nothingness. Jacen shook his head imperceptibly. His uncle was getting more and
more eccentric.
Well, Luke finally spoke up, loud enough to make Jacen start slightly. I have
no answers for you right now, Jacen, but we'll both have plenty of time to research it.
I suppose so. Jacen's voice gave away his disappointment. His sense of
impending doom grew larger inside his gut.
Don't be so pessimistic, Jacen. Just because I've never heard of it, doesn't
mean it's never happened before. All this means is that I've never had reason to
research it in the Archives. There very well could be some record of a 'voice' being
heard by a Jedi who died and was revived.
Jacen sat up straighter, his uncle's words beginning to renew his confidence. I
hope so. It's all I have at this point. He paused, started to talk, then cleared his throat
and fell silent again.
What? What is it? Luke frowned in concern.
Uhit's about, well, why I'm here.
What do you mean?
Jacen leaned back in his seat, rubbing his forehead with his hand. I think there's
a reason for me being here, for why I'm alive.
Luke nodded. We're all here for a reason. But go on.
Jacen lowered his hand. I had a realization, back on Yavin. That I have some
sort of important task ahead of me. Like... a message. Something, not just for the Jedi,
but for everyone.
Everyone? Luke head canted slightly to the left.
Yeah, Jacen continued, the galaxy. I know how it sounds. Who am I to bring a
message? The vast majority of the galaxy will want me dead. Again. That is, if they
even believe I am who I say I am.
I do know how it sounds.
What? Jacen asked.
How it sounds, Luke repeated. You said you know how it sounds, but I'm not
sure you do.
What do you mean? a frown forming on Jacen's brow.
Luke's eyes looked haunted as he lowered his voice, speaking confidentially.
When I was training with Master Yoda, he told me something that I've never told
anyone. Jacen's eyes grew wide as Luke spoke. I didn't think much of it at the time.
In fact I thought Yoda was partly insane. I suppose there's a fine line between insight
and insanity, he chuckled.
That gave Jacen pause. He could very well vouch for that philosophy.
But in passing, Luke continued, while he was having me levitate rocks with the
Force, he said, 'Ready the galaxy is not'. I lost focus, the rocks dropped. Yoda seemed
not to notice. He was looking off in the distance, almost like he wasn't even talking to
me. I asked him what he meant. 'The message'. He sighed and shook his head. 'Not
ready it is. Not until' And then he glanced at me. He looked profoundly sad.
Until what? Jacen urged.
Luke's gaze was similar to how he described Yoda's. Sad. My death.
Jacen's stood from this seat. What? You're death? No. What are you talking
about? You're not going to die. How are you going to die? That doesn't make any
sense.
What does? Luke inquired.
Jacen was shaking his head emphatically. This can't be right. How do you
know that that's what Yoda meant?
Luke stood, speaking calmly. I felt it. He didn't have to say it. If you had the
Force, you would know it to be true.
Jacen hung his head, hands on his hips, obviously trying to process this
information while in complete denial of it. He couldn't deny what Luke was saying. He
had no reason not to trust his judgement.
Then he felt Luke's hands on his shoulders. It's okay, Jacen. I'm an old man.
I've faced death so many times that the reality of it hardly surprises me. Then his voice
dropped in volume. Jacen, he said, making him look up again into his eyes. No one
can know about this.
His only response was to sigh and shut his eyes really tight.
I mean it, Luke insisted.
Jacen stepped away and turned his back on him. Alright. Fine. I won't tell
anyone.
They didn't speak for the remainder of the flight. In fact, Jacen could barely note
the passage of time, because it wasn't until Jaina walked in that he stopped staring at
the deck. His eyes shot up as if he was caught trying to steal something.
Umwe're coming out of hyperspace. Jaina cocked her head looking at Jacen,
and he knew that she knew something was up. What's going on? she asked
tentatively, looking between Jacen and Luke.
Nothing important, Luke lied, and Jacen couldn't believe how convincing he
sounded. Thanks for letting us know.
No problem, Jaina half smiled and headed back for the cockpit.
Luke looked at Jacen. Are you ready?
Jacen almost chuckled. Ready? Nothing in my lifeor my deathcould
prepare me for what I'm walking into.
Luke's reply was only to pat him on the shoulder as he headed for the cockpit,
leaving Jacen alone in the lounge. A million scenarios had already passed through his
mind. Death. Prison. Torture. Ready he was not. He had faced so many dangers in
his life but there was something different about this situation that made him more afraid
now than he had been in a long time.
Shame.


CHAPTER 3

Ysalimiri were snake-like creatures, unique to the planet Myrkyr. What made
them more unique was their ability to create a bubble several meters in diameter in
which the Force could not be felt. They were the security of choice for disabling a
Jedior Siththat was to be arrested. Luke Skywalker fist encountered them when he
himself had been captured, back during the reign of Grand Admiral Thrawn. After
having one's awareness expanded by the Force, the feeling of complete emptiness that
they created was crippling for the Force-sensitive.
Which was what made Jacen's situation so perplexing. Upon arrival, Coruscant
security immediately detained and stun cuffed him, and within a short time produced the
ysalimiri to ensure he couldn't use the Force to escape. Which was a problem for them.
Because he could feel the Force again.
Well, not just feel. He felt more powerful than ever before.
He had known true power. He ruled most of the galaxy in his previous life. But
this was incomparable. It wasn't a power over people or his surroundings. His best
description would be to say that it was a power with them. Like a mutual agreement, a
trade off, a sharing, a request of power. It was not Jacen himself that had all this power,
it was the totality of everything around him.
He found that he could not only sense the guards outside his cell, or the staff
running the government facility in which he was held, but to his astonishment, he could
stretch his mind around not only this district of Coruscant, but the entire planet. He
didn't dare go further. He was afraid that if he stretched too far he might lose himself.
He had been left without Jedi protection, with one exception, because it was
assumed, as Luke had described to his captors, that he could not touch the Force. Of
course, that didn't stop them from shipping in the ysalimiri as a precaution. What they
didn't knowcouldn't knowwas that they were having the opposite effect of what they
were intended for.
It was pure shock that struck him when he entered the bubble of Force-negation
that the ysalimiri projected. It was like being blind and deaf, to being expanding
exponentially into an infinite hive-mind. It reminded him somewhat of the Killiks who
operated in a similar fashion, sharing thoughts and intentions as a whole. But that was
limited to the Killiks and people who came into contact with them. The difference being
that Jacen could feel everyone.
His shock continued to fade as he reasoned out how this was happening. Oddly
enough, the topic that came to mind was mathematics. Multiplying one negative
numberan ysalimiri in this caseby another negative numberbeing Jacen, who
previously could not touch the Forceequaled a positive number. His Force senses
had been multiplied into a positive phenomenon.
The one exception of Jedi protection that he had been considering earlier was
that of Tahiri Veila. Unlike the guards who essentially had their backs to him, Tahiri
burrowed into Jacen with her eyes. Barefoot as usual. It was an odd quirk that Jacen
could never figure out but endeared her to him.
Tahiri had been made a fool by Jacen during his reign of terror. Jacen had used
her. Tempting her with relief from her emotional pain over the loss of Jacen's brother
Anakin, forcing her to assassinate a high-ranking military officer. Once his tirade was
over, Tahiri had eventually been imprisoned for her actions.
Jacen was trying to avoid looking at her. He wondered if she was able to sense
that his Force-awareness had returned. He assumed not, because otherwise she and
his captors would be far more alert. Jaced mused that if he really wanted to, he could
just walk out of this place. The ysalimiri were not just helping him feel the Force, but
they were preventing other Jedi from knowing.
He decided to cooperate in any way he could. Resisting would only hurt his
reputation even more.
What are you? Tahiri asked in disgust,
Jacen slowly raised his head to look at her. I'm Jacen.
No you're not. You can't be. Jacen's dead. You're some kind of clone or
something. Where did you come from?
Clone.
Could that be?
The idea had not crossed his mind. But how? Who would have cloned him, and
why didn't he remember anything before Yavin? Clones have memories. They have
accelerated growth, but at least they have training, knowledge for their time during the
process. He couldn't comprehend how that would have taken place after his death. No.
He refused to believe it. His existence was more significant than being some sort of
laboratory experiment.
Tahiri. I'm so sorry for what I put you through, Jacen finally replied.
Don't change the subject.
Jacen sighed. I know what I am. I just don't know how.
Tahiri seemed to accept that explanation for the time being because she didn't
respond.
Jacen got to his feet and started pacing the five-by-five meter holding cell, which
consisted of three reinforced transparisteel walls and a single force field separating him
from the world.
He was torn. If he tried to escape, it would only incriminate him further. If he
stayed in prison, he could not take action. Not that he knew for sure what action was
needed. He just knew that he wasn't resurrected to spend the rest of his life in custody.
The only answer he could come up with was that he would need to convince
people. More specifically, the Jedi. If they would accept his reasoning, they might be
able to secure his release. He had already convinced his sister, but that was through
their twin bond. How could he pass on a similar understanding to the Jedi Order?
Then the problem became simpler. One step at a time., he thought. First, get out
of this room. That would probably be the hardest part, considering who was guarding
him.
He turned, walked up to the force field and looked directly at Tahiri. Something
Vergere once said came to mind and he thought it might open a door to Tahiri's heart.
You loved my brother Anakin once, yes?
Tahiri raised an eyebrow. You know I did.
Why? he asked simply.
She let out a frustrated breath. What does that matter now?
Please, just tell me, Jacen pressed.
Tahiri just shook her head and turned away from him. When she turned back,
she said, I don't owe you any answers.
I'm not looking for answers. I'm proposing the question. The why. Most people
don't know why they love a certain person and not another. The point is, 'why' is always
a question deeper than its answer.
What does that even mean! Tahiri shouted frustratedly.
It's something Vergere taught me. I'm saying that my existence is just as
mysterious as your love for Anakin. Both are fact. We don't know why things are as
they are, but that's not important. The question itself is what matters. So you tell me.
Why am I here?
Jacen could tell he was striking a chord with Tahiri. She began Ihow am I
supposed to know? All I know is that you used Anakin to manipulate me!
And the Force is using me to manipulate the galaxy.
What? Tahiri gasped. You mean you still want to control the galaxy?
No, not control. Change. I don't understand it any better than you do, but for
some reason, I am back and I have a lot of work to do.
They both stood there, staring at each other for a long minute.
Why should I believe you? Tahiri asked.
Let me show you.
How are you going t before she could finish her question, Jacen had
extended a hand, as if to caress her cheek. Impossible, given the force field. He
reached out with the Force and entered her mind. He felt guilty for having invaded her
privacy this way, but this was the only way she could know. He shared everything with
her, much the way he did with his own sister. His pain, his confusion, his love. All raw
and unrestrained. His ability to connect with Tahiri surprised even him, but he was
beginning to understand how potent his powers had become, thanks to the ysalimiri.
Her mouth hung open.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
I am so sorry, Tahiri, Jacen pressed. As he separated himself from her mind,
she began to sob. Jacen waited for her to relax a bit more, listening to her breathing. I
mean no harm to anyone. Not anymore. Least of all to you. He paused before the
crucial question. Can you help me?
She looked up, holding her hand over most of her face, tear streaks showing
more sympathy than he ever deserved. She couldn't seem to speak, so she just
nodded emphatically.
Jacen smiled genuinely, and sighed deeply. Okay.
A small chuckle escaped in between Tahiri's sobs. Okay.
I have only one more question.
Yeah?
Jacen looked serious again. Where is my daughter?

Ta'a Chume.
At the time of Jacen's death, his daughter Allana was Chume'Da, heir to the
thrown of a cluster of moons and planets called the Hapes Consortium. Now it seemed
she had risen to the rank of leader of the Consortium. It didn't so much surprise him, as
it did make him proud of his daughter. Of course, her rise to power implied one thing:
Tenel Ka was dead.
She was Allana's mother. Jacen and Tenel Ka were never officially married, but
they secretly had a close relationship. It was necessary to keep things quiet because
men were thought of as inferior to women on Hapes. Had anyone discovered the truth
about Allana's lineage, anyone thirsty for power in the Consortium would be a threat to
her. Such was the reality of the ruling class of Hapes. Assassinations were not
uncommon. Which was why, during her childhood and adolescence she had gone by
the alias Amelia Solo.
When Allana became Ta'a Chume, Tahiri continued her explanation, you can
imagine how many attempts on her life there were. Of course, with her training in the
Force, she was able to defend herself better than any bodyguard could have. That Jedi
danger sense never fails, huh?
That brought a smile to Jacen's face. They had been talking through the force
field for almost an hour, which only temporarily made him forget he was in a cell. He
began to examine it. He could use the Force to break through one the walls, but that
almost seemed clich. He wanted to try something different with his new-found
strength.
He looked straight ahead. Tahiri thought he was staring at her. What? she
asked. But he was actually looking directly at the force field. He looked at his hand,
then back again. He started reaching out to it and Tahiri looked confused. What are
you doing?
His hand stopped a centimeter from the field. He looked at Tahiri, then back at
his hand. He closed his eyes.
It was an odd sensation, but as his hand passed through the force fieldand he
wasn't even sure how he was doing ithe heard Tahiri gasp. Slowly, he worked his arm
through, then his other arm, then a foot. Then his head. And suddenly he was outside
the cell.
Jacen and Tahiri stood slack-jawed. Howhow did you do that? she finally
asked.
Jacen just shook his head slightly, meeting her gaze. He had no idea how. He
just knew, to his core, that he was able to do things that no other Jedi could do. He was
struck profoundly with the implications. What else was within his power? That question
alone would tempt most other Jedi with the dark side. Jacen was beyond good and evil.
Such was his life before he was killed by his sister.
And today? He couldn't describe what he was thinking. All that mattered was
that he had to escape, to contact the Jedi Council, figure out what he was supposed to
do from then on.
Realizing that he had been standing there, ignoring Tahiri's question, he snapped
out of his reverie. It tickled, Jacen replied.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Tahiri burst out laughing, and so did
Jacen.
When they were able to control themselves, wiping the tears from their eyes,
they decided it was time to leave. Outside the door to his cell were... three, yes three
guards he could sense in the Force. Just three? He was surprised it wasn't an entire
military force watching over him. That in it self was curious, and he decided it was
something to address at a later time.
Walking to the door he suddenly went limp, and his knees buckled. His
awareness, his strength, his abilities, all escaped him.
As Jacen kneeled on the floor, Tahiri rushed to his side. What is it? What
happened?
He couldn't be sure. Instinctively he crawled back to the cell where his strength
was once again restored. What in Corellia's nine hells was going on? With his
awareness restored, the answer came quickly.
The ysalimiri.
Just as they had restored his abilities in the Force, it seemed he could not touch
it without them. Which meant he would have to take one with him.
What are you doing? Tahiri questioned.
Jacen was examining his cell. There was an ysalimiri at each corner of the cube
in which he was held captive. They were hung in slender cages, made primarily of
durasteel. He carefully lifted the cage on its hook, and found that the would fit snugly on
his shoulder. Convenient.
When he had done so, he looked up to see Tahiri looking at him curiously. As
awkward as it was, he realized an explanation was in order. He described everything
he had experienced since the moment they had placed him in his cell, the power and
awareness that had blossomed in his mind.
Are you kidding me? He wasn't surprised by the question.
I know how crazy it sounds. I don't have the time or the means to explain.
You're going to have to trust me. He knew how difficult that would be for her but
surprisingly, her response was swift.
Okay. Let's go.
Jacen nodded and headed for the door, ysalimiri hanging on his shoulder.
Just before he pressed his thumb on the activation button, the door rose with a
hiss, and outside were the three guards, guns pointed directly at Jacen's chest.
Don't move, said the center guard.
Jacen sighed. I'm sorry guys, but I have to go. As he took a step toward them,
they let loose a volley of stun bolts. In an instant Jacen thought he would drop out of
consciousness, but instead he felt the energy from the bolts humming inside his body. If
anything, he felt more conscious. Then it occurred to him that he had heard of this type
of experience. Jedi Master Corran Horn, for example, was capable of absorbing blaster
bolts.
The guards were all frowning and looking each other in confusion. The center
guard spoke up again. Fire! Three more stun bolts hit Jacen in the chest, and again
he felt that energy ripple through his entire body. The guards began looking at their
blasters as if they were malfunctioning.
Maybe another time, my friends, Jacen spoke calmly. He stepped closer,
placing a hand on each of their shoulders, each time he felt the energy flow through his
arms and into the guards, who promptly collapsed as if stunned by the very stun bolts
they had directed at him.
Tahiri stepped through the door, careful not to step on the unconscious guards.
I'm not even going to ask how you did that.
That's good, said Jacen, because I'm not sure how I did it either. Lets go. He
turned right and headed down the hall of the detention center.
And where exactly are we going? Tahiri asked.
Easy. The Jedi Council.

Jacen was all full of tricks, he came to discover. He worried about how he might
escape from the detention center, but that turned out to be child's play. These new
abilities were strange, useful, but also spontaneous.
One ability of which was the key for his escape. He couldn't believe how easy it
was. He didn't want to be seen. And so... he wasn't.
He and Tahiri essentially just walked out of the building. They passed security
like they were completely invisible. He even stopped at one moment to look a guard
directly in the eye, less than a meter away, and there was no indication that the guard
could see him.
When they had made it to the main turbolift and the doors closed, Tahiri turned to
Jacen, as they ascended to ground level. She was shaking.
Okay, we need to talk. How are you doing all this? How did we just manage to
walk out of a high-security military prison?
I wish I knew, was his only reply.
No, you have to explain, she pressed. This is insane. You stunned the guards
youyou entered my mind. You're carrying around an ysalimiri which should be
crippling you in the Force
Jacen turned to her. I know how difficult this all is to understand, but you have to
trust me. I don't know any more than you. I'm justdifferent. He looked at the floor for
a few seconds and continued. I'm here for a reason, Tahiri. I wasn't just resurrected, I
was given something. A chance to make things right.
Her eyes remained steady as he spoke. Finally, she rolled her eyes and
shrugged. Okay, whatever, let's just get out of here, she said finally, but he wasn't
sure if she really believed him.
And then a feeling came over him, something obvious but also peculiar. He
frowned, realizing he had overlooked a particular question: where were they? He knew
they were in some sort of detention center, but it was, of course, unfamiliar to him. He
had been so focused on the task at hand, escaping the facility, that he hadn't
considered what he was escaping from.
Where are we? Jacen finally asked. I mean, this building. Where does this
turbolift lead to?
Oh, was all she said.
'Oh' what?
Well, we're below the Jedi Temple.
Jacen's eyebrows rose. Oh. Good. That's exactly where I want to be. And
then something occurred to him. Why would there be a detention center below the Jedi
Temple?
She ignored the question. Jacen, I don't think you know what you're getting into.
You will be spotted, and you will be captured. Again.
No. Not this time, Jacen argued. This time we'll get through just like we got
past the guards.
Jacen, those weren't Jedi. We're walking into a place where people are trained
to sense danger. You know that.
He nodded. The ysalimiri will keep us hidden.
What? How?
Jacen took a breath to say something, then let it out. He grimaced. I don't know
how to put it into words. There was a long pause. She was obviously waiting for him to
find a way. Okay, look. I couldn't touch the Force when I woke up on Yavin. The only
thing I could do was access my sister's twin bond. But then, when I was brought here,
they must have thought that as a precaution to use the ysalimiri. But they were like me,
unable to touch the Force. Somehow the two negatives turned into a positive.
Except
Except what?
Well. It didn't just give me access to the Force. I mean, you saw what I did. I
can do things that I've never heard of any Jedi doing.
Yeah, was all she could say, an expression of either fear or awe growing on her
face.
The ding of the turbolift interrupted their conversation. They looked at each
other, and then Jacen closed his eyes. She could tell he was trying to focus, probably
to hide both of them in an illusion as he did with the guards.
The door lifted, and outside it were a dozen or so office workers, probably in
charge of keeping track of who comes and goes from the facility. It was a small room,
full of computer stations. And yet again, three guards, but with much larger blasters,
and heavy armor.
Tahiri gasped, but Jacen was as calm as ever. He stepped out of the turbolift
with confidence. None of the civilians seemed to take notice of them. The guards, on
the other hand were obviously better trained, because they seemed more on alert.
It's okay, Tahiri. They don't sense us. They just know that something is
different.
But doesn't that mean they can find us? she whispered.
Not necessarily. To them we don't exist. You can't be aware of nothingness.,
Jacen explained.
They continued to approach the exit where the guards stood, but they seemed no
more alert than they did when Jacen and Tahiri had left the turbolift. They stopped right
in front of them. The center guard was looking right through them. He had a frown on
his face, but confusion was more apparent. Jacen looked over his shoulder at Tahiri,
looked back at the door, raised a hand, and gestured with it. The door lifted with ease.
Unfortunately this put everyone in the room on high alert. The three guards
raised their weapons and formed up around the door. The guard on the left shouted at
the office workers, Who gained access to this room!
They were just as dumbfounded. That door apparently never opened without
their consent. No one that they could see had approached the door, shown
identification, or activated the comm on the outside.
As the guards carefully peered outside the door, Jacen and Tahiri ducked and
squeezed through the space between them. The guards soon followed behind them,
looking in all directions to find out who opened the door. Eventually they shrugged it off
and went back inside, the door slamming down shut once more.
Jacen and Tahiri found themselves in a grand lobby, off to which it led many
training rooms. Glancing around, Jacen noticed nothing had really changed here at the
Temple, except for one thing.
It was empty.
Not a single soul was walking through the lobby, even though, as Jacen
remembered it, it was usually packed with Jedi in training, Masters going about their
business, council members discussing things in groups.
Flabbergasted, he turned to Tahiri and asked, Where is everyone? What
happened here? Something was coming into focus within his mind as he noted that he
had not felt the ripple in the Force which would have been indicative of an enormous
group of Jedi that, by all logic, should still be there. He hadn't noticed the lack of Jedi.
He didn't even know where he was until a few minutes ago.
You didn't know? Tahiri responded.
Know what? What's going on? Jacen asked again.
Tahiri took a deep breath and let it out. The Temple isn't used anymore. Since
the destruction of Abeloth, things changed. The Alliance and the Jedi Council decided
the Jedi had to move away from Coruscant after the destruction from the battle with
Abeloth and the Sith.
Where did they go?
Shedu Maad, Tahiri answered.
Jacen squinted his eyes as if trying to see something out of focus.
He looked down at the floor. He couldn't think of anything to say, anything to do,
so he just stood there, eventually removing the ysalimiri from his shoulder. His
awareness in the Force immediately collapsed, but he was ready for it this time. He
stood tall and embraced the emptiness he felt around him. That's when he started
walking.
Tahiri stayed where she was and called out to Jacen's back. Where are you
going?
The only place that makes sense, he said under his breath.

As he stood in the Jedi Council chamber, Jacen watched the sun around which
the planet orbited, slowly creep below the horizon. The cityscape that was Coruscant
had changed since he last saw it. Towers, enormous spires, pyramidal structures.
Many constructions sites. Something happened here while he was dead. He needed to
find out what.
He stayed standing there, gazing out the window, until darkness reclaimed the
Temple. Sighing, he turned to leave
and was confronted by Luke Skywalker himself. Dressed in his typical black
robes and brown cloak with the hood over this eyes, he would appear frightening to
most people. But Jacen knew better. Still the question on his mind was warranted:
How long have you been standing there?
Luke pulled down his hood, revealing a humorous grin. The entire time.
Actually I was waiting over there, he point to a dark corner of the council chamber,
because I've been waiting for you.
What? You knew I would come here? Jacen raised an eyebrow.
Luke chuckled. I guessed.
Oh.
So I imagine you have questions. Let me start by telling you, this whole thing
was a test.
Jacen rose both eyebrows this time. What whole thing?
The prison, the ysalimiri, Tahiri, this place, he explained, looking around as if
having seen it for the first time.
Jacen was so confused. His Uncle Luke set this up? Why?
As if hearing this thoughts, Luke continued to describe how he set it all up. He
contacted Tahiri for this assignment because she hated Jacen more than anyone else.
He wanted to see how that conversation would go, and Luke was noticeably pleased
with how it turned out. Luke also planted the ysalimiri, knowing that they were
unnecessary for blocking his ability in the Force, since he had none. Finally he
explained why.
You are one of a kind, Jacen. Your history proves it true. When we spoke on
the Millennium Falcon, I sensed something about you that I never felt in anyone in my
entire life. And considering how many Force-sensitive people I've known throughout my
years, that means a lot. Luke paused for only a moment, then continued. I honestly
can't put into words what I saw in you, but I had an instinct. I can take no credit for what
I did, because all of it was Force-inspired.
Jacen bit his bottom lip, trying to digest it all.
I'm sorry to have put you through all that, but I had to be sure. You can touch
the Force in ways I could never imagine. Why? Luke asked himself, and grimaced. I
don't know. In the end, you are the one who has to decide what you do from here on in.
You have to figure out your purpose. No one else can help you. Not me, not Jaina, not
Tahiri.
Jacen nodded in agreement. I know. He frowned, remembering the question
on his mind. What happened here? Why all the construction work?
Luke looked deep into his eyes. Do you remember the last time we spoke?
Jacen furrowed his brow. If I remember right, it was a little while before Jaina
killed me.
No, Luke said emphatically.
No? Then when? Jacen looked confused.
Luke frowned. Beyond shadows.
Jacen's eyes slowly drifted closed. He remembered.
Going beyond shadows was a term used by beings that Luke and his son Ben
had discovered in the Maw, a cluster of nebulae and black holes created by the Killiks,
meant to imprison the powerful and evil being Abeloth. Luke compared it to how Obi-
wan would visit him in spirit form. He wasn't sure if they were exactly the same, but the
conditions were identical: one could speak to the dead.
All of this flooded Jacen's mind. A memory, but it felt like it had happened to
someone else. Some other Jacen. He remembered the guilt when Luke confronted
him, while Jacen was nothing more than a ghost, blaming him for the tragedy that had
struck the galaxy after his fall.
Then his original question was answered. Abeloth. She had happened, had
practically destroyed the planet. That's why there was so much work being done to the
buildings on Coruscant. Abeloth had nearly annihiliated it.
Of course, Jacen had known about Abeloth far before she became a threat to
everyone else. That was what made him sick. Had he still been ruling the galaxy, he
probably could have swiftly defeated her. The fact he was not alive during such a time
of upheaval was his own fault. Had he not become a Sith, he could have used his
advanced knowledge to defeat her. But that was all past. There was nothing left but
Now.
It's okay, Jacen, Luke comforted him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Somehow he knew what Jacen was going through. You might think you hurt a lot of
people, but I think you hurt yourself more than anyone.
Is that supposed to make me feel better?, Jacen huffed.
Not really, Luke replied shortly. But I figured that since you know more about
pain than anyone else in the galaxy, you might grow stronger because of it.
He had to admit, his uncle had a point. So he closed his eyes and searched
deep down for the pain he felt over all the destruction he had caused and failed to
prevent. He didn't want to feel sorry for himself, but Luke was right. Despite being the
cause of so much pain, he had injured himself as well. So he focused on that pain. He
absorbed his whole being into it and embraced it. Soon he was consumed in the white
once more, finding that he could think clearer than he had since his arrival on Yavin.
He opened his eyes, stronger than he was before. Turning to Luke, he asked,
What happened to the council? I mean, Tahiri told me the Jedi left for Shedu Maad, but
wouldn't the council want to stay in control here?
Luke shook his head. That's exactly the problem. Control.
Jacen frowned. What do you mean?
He shrugged. I dissolved the council permanently. To make things more
interesting, several years after the move to Shedu Maad, Jedi started disappearing.
What do you mean?
They started leaving. Returning to their home planets. Whatever phenomenon
is pulling the Jedi away from there has to be the work of the Force. The council had no
more control, and that was the entire lesson. Jedi can do good works wherever they
are. The Jedi Order should never have even become an order at all.
Obi-wan was wrong. You can't control the Force. You have to let go and let it
guide you. You have to surrender to it.
Jacen nodded in agreement. Vergere used to say the same thing.
Luke nodded back. So. We are in peace time, and the Force is directing each
individual Jedi in whatever direction they are supposed to go in.
The words peace time echoed around in his mind. When was the last time
there was no conflict, no violence, no threat to the well being of the citizens of the
galaxy?
Luke had a familiar, haunted look in his eyes. I've been through so many wars,
so many battles. I can't remember the last time there was peace. I Luke paused,
choosing his words carefully. I can't fight anymore. He looked up at Jacen, and he
noticed his uncle's eyes were glossed over with a hint of tears.
We'll be alright, Uncle Luke, Jacen said with certainty. He wasn't sure how he
knew that, but it felt right. He had never seen his uncle like this. He seemed weary, or
maybe just tired. For the Jedi Order's Grand Master, he appeared weak.
I appreciate that, Jacen. But like I told you before. My days are numbered.
I wish you would stop saying that. No one should know when they're going to
die, Jacen said, sounding frustrated.
No? Master Yoda did.
Really?
Oh yes. He knew that when I returned to him, before I faced my father for the
second time, that he would pass. He said, 'Strong am I in the Force, but not that
strong'. 'Rest I need'. Jacen, it's time for me to rest. He looked away for a moment.
But not just yet. We have something to do.
We do? Jacen said curiously. What?
Luke smiled again. I was hoping you could tell me. My visions have told me
that your return would herald a great change. Something so dramatic that it could affect
the entire galaxy.
Jacen shook is head and laughed cynically. I think I've changed the galaxy
enough in my last life.
Not like that, Luke continued. Not with the military, nor the government. This
is something only you can do.
Well how am I supposed to figure that out? Jacen was beginning to get
frustrated. Nothing was certain. I don't have any answers! All I have is questions. I
don't know how I came back and I don't know why.
Luke blinked slowly, and then finally said, Exactly.
Jacen went silent. He had heard this lecture before, but from someone else,
many years ago. Questions are more useful that answers. Vergere had said that to him
many times.
You are the only one who can ask the right questions, Luke finished.
Jacen was exasperated. If you say so.
Luke did not reply. Instead he raised his hood, bowed to Jacen, and walked to
the turbolift. In a few seconds, Luke was gone, and Jacen was left alone.
He was frustrated. No, not frustrated. Enraged. Why was he so angry? He had
to stand there and think about it for several minutes.
Control. That was it. He had no control over anything that had happened
recently. He was used to power. Without the Force, without even the ability to control
what happened to him since he arrived on Coruscant, he was at the whim of whomever
was his captor.
For one thing was certain. He wouldn't be able to figure this all out without the
Force. He would need
Ysalimiri? came a voice behind him. Jacen spun around to see his sister
standing there by the turbolift, holding the cage.
Jacen heaved a sigh of relief, both for the sight of his sister and the ysalmiri. He
stepped over to them, and as he approached Jaina, suddenly the universe once again
flared into existence as he could reach out with the Force.
He smiled. Thank you, he said with sincere gratitude. How did you know?
This was part of the plan that Uncle Luke set up. Once his suspicions were
confirmed,he had me follow you.
Jacen took the cage from her and noticed it had been modified with two straps so
that he could carry it on both shoulders, much more comfortably. Hmm, nice, he said
as he hoisted it up and put it on.
For a little while he just soaked in the Force, basked in its light and power. After
having once again experienced being disconnected from it, feeling it again was an
enormous relief.
So, Jaina began. Uncle Luke wanted me to tell you where you might want to
start on your, she grinned lopsidedly, adventure.
He frowned. What do you mean?
Well, he told me about his first students. How he had used the Force to search
for them. He said one of them would be able to help you.
Jacen thought back. Luke's first student was Gantoris. Unfortunately, he had
quickly turned to the dark side, and was killed soon after by the darkness he so lusted
for. His second student...
Wait, he's still alive? Jacen asked, eyes bulging.
Jaina chuckled. Never underestimate the power of the Force.
Indeed. How could he?


CHAPTER 4

Bespin.
As he looked out the viewport of the passenger ship which he had boarded, the
sphere of the planet looked like it was made out of some kind of fluffy candy he had
tried once at a festival when he was not even ten years old. The memory left a bad
taste in his mouth as he remembered how sickeningly sweet it was.
The planet was essentially a large gaseous world, consisting of Tibbanna gas in
particular, which was used to power blasters of all kinds, as well as some other
weapons and technologies.
The passenger ship was headed for Cloud City, the floating metropolis that had
once been owned by his father's friend Lando Calrissian. Also, the place where Uncle
Luke had first confronted Darth Vader, as well as where Han Solo had been encased in
carbonite. He had been here once before on invitation from Lando himself, as a sort of
vacation. A disastrous mistake, because he and his sister had brought with them a
friend. Jacen thought about Anja, the yellow-bladed-lightsaber-wielding teenager, who
had met them on Ord Mantel. Anja turned out to be big trouble. Jacen suddenly
realized how many bad memories this place contained, and decided to think about his
objective.
Jaina had provided the details. The place, the time, what to say, everything. He
only hoped that this search wasn't in vain. The man that he was looking for would be
ancient by human standards. But he was also a Jedi Master, one who had left the
Temple long before the arrival of Abeloth, even before Jacen's own reign. The
assumption was that he had simply decided to return to his home, long before the Jedi
from Shedu Maad had.
The planet was approaching fast. Once they had entered the atmosphere, there
was a long moment where Jacen couldn't see anything out the viewport. When the ship
cleared the uppermost level of clouds, he saw the city in the distance. He was amazed
it was even in operation after all that had happened here.
This was, however, not his actual destination. The place he planned to visit was
off limits to visitors. Tibannapolous was a smaller version of Cloud City, but not
accommodating to citizens. It was strictly a mining facility, but it had fallen into disrepair
decades ago. The town was little more than a floating wreck.
The passenger ship passed over the rounded roofs of the buildings that made up
the city and approached the landing platform. Jacen grabbed the ysalimiri cage which
now was disguised as a simple backpack. The ship descended and landed roughly,
hissing and whining as people, mostly human, began to stand and retrieve their
belongings.
Filing out of the passenger compartment and down the ramp, he began to focus
on the people around him in the Force, affecting their vision indirectly so that he would
not appear as Jacen Solo, but just another tourist or refugee, easily dismissed and
forgotten. Had he not done this, he would undoubtedly be recognized, and eventually
swarmed, beaten, shot, and so on. Everyone knew his face. The face of an evil
dictator.
So he walked away from all the crowds, and headed for a different landing
platform where a cloudcar awaited him. This had also been prearranged. One of the
double-cockpit aircraft had been stowed away through channels by Lando himself,
thanks to Jaina and Luke. Even if he didn't own the city anymore, he still had
connections. The cloak and vibrodagger routine was to protect his identity, and also to
hide the trail he might unintentionally leave behind.
When he discovered the platform on which a dozen or so cloudcars rested, he
found one closer to the platform's edge, one with no serial number painted on it,
purposely made to look like it wouldn't fly by the scorch marks and missing
transparisteel on the port cockpit. Jacen pressed the activation switch on the starboard-
side cockpit, the hatch popping up and folding back. He jumped with a little Force
assistance and landed on the pilot's seat, placing the backpack between his feet.
He started flicking switches, setting the repulsorlifts, starting up the engine. In
moments, he was hovering vertically, passing over the other cloudcars. Setting his
trajectory, he angled the craft for Tibbannapolous.
The star around which Bespin revolved was beginning to set below what Jacen
could only guess was the horizon, considering there was no solid land to be seen.
Everything took on a shade of rust that was utterly stunning.
Minutes later, In the distance, a speck appeared in his vision and his heads-up
display confirmed he was on approach. The closer he got to the hovering compound,
the more dubious he became of its stability and safety. For a moment he thought he
was flying crooked and went to adjust his pitch until he realized that the city itself was
tipping on its side.
Repulsorlift failure. Why would a Jedi Master choose such a place to live? The
answer was both obvious and ridiculous at the same time. He lived here because this
was his previous home, before he became a Jedi.
Jacen chose the safest looking platform, which technically wasn't safe at all, but it
would do. Setting the cloudcar down was a challenge, since he had to compensate for
the slant on which the ship had to rest. He popped the hatch and climbed out, leaving
his ysalimiri behind, considering who we was going to see.
Silence. Well, there was wind, but that was all. Though completely isolated, it
was rather peaceful. Strapping on the backpack, he began to search in the Force for
another life-sign. Even with his enhanced awareness, he had trouble locating any
individual life form. He recognized the rawwks, strange bird-like creatures that
apparently inhabited the entire town, but he couldn't recognize a human life-form.
He started walking, exploring. Most people would probably find a ghost town to
be rather creepy, quiet as everything was, strange noises here and there. Jacen,
however, reveled in it. For the first time since waking up on Yavin he felt like a Jedi
again. He was on his own, pursuing a mission.
In the old days he would never consider being excited over an adventure. A Jedi
wasn't supposed to crave such things. And then he met Vergere, who turned his
philosophies inside-out. Excitement was not wrong. It was a natural reaction to an
unusual, dangerous, or promising situation. He noted, at this point, he was
experiencing all three.
He passed by a port that appeared to be for the floating, gas-mining vessels that
were, essentially, the entire purpose for anyone having inhabited this planet. There
must have been other such facilities built to replace this one, since it was obviously not
producing.
Tibbannapolous was circular, much like Cloud City, but did not possess the living
quarters for anyone except the miners. Nor were there gambling facilities, holofilm
theaters and the like. So, as Jacen walked the paths that led to the various ports, gas
storage containers, and equipment supplies, he was unaware that he was being
followed.
The sun was dipping lower behind the clouds, casting long shadows. As he
turned a corner, he noticed one such shadow next to his. Suddenly there was a snap-
hiss and a flash of orange as a man stopped the blade of his lightsaber mere
centimeters from Jacen's throat.
Who are you? the old man croaked. He was wearing coveralls and a cape with
a hood. Some sort of goggles were strapped on his forehead. His goatee was white,
the hair on his chin hanging long from his face. The hand that wasn't holding the
lightsaber was leaning on a cane. His frailty was very apparent.
Jacen stood unphased, and nodded to him, despite the proximity to the
lightsaber blade. Master Streen, he spoke with great respect.
Streen immediately deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. You
didn't answer my question.
I'mJacen Solo, he said reluctantly. He wasn't sure how Streen would react to
having a former Lord of the Sith in his town.
Streen tilted his head to the left and narrowed his eyes. Ah, yes, of course.
Welcome back to the land of the living. He bowed deeply to Jacen, which was rather
surprising in his opinion. Jacen followed suit and bowed as well.
Jacen wasn't sure what to say, so Streen started. What brings you way out here
to this heap? A second before Jacen could answer his question, Streen continued, Oh
I see. You've come for my assistance. Well I'm not sure how I can help, but I am
pleased to know that Grand Master Skywalker sent you.
Jacen's mouth hung open in incomprehension.
It's okay, Streen said with a chuckle. I can hear your thoughts. Did Luke not
tell you?
Jacen looked at him suspiciously. Um, no.
Streen shrugged. I'm not surprised. He likes to let you find things out for
yourself.
Jacen squinted his eyes. You can read my mind? he asked, though it didn't
sound like a question.
Yep.
Prove it, Jacen demanded. What am I thinking about now?
Streen's frowned, not to activate his ability, but it seemed instead because of the
peculiarity of the thought. Who is Allana?
Jacen's eyes went wide, and he shook his head to focus them. I'm sorry. I've
never heard of that kind of power in the Force. Not to that extent, anyway.
Indeed. I was born that way. Until your Uncle Luke came to find me nearly
three decades ago, I lived here, he looked up and around, to isolate myself, to hide
from the noise as I heard everyone's thoughts. Luke taught me how to block them out.
Jacen nodded in consideration. Fascinating.
Streen just smiled.
So, Jacen said uncomfortably, I don't suppose you know why I was sent here.
Mmm, Streen hummed, stroking his beard in thought. Then he looked back at
Jacen. Come with me. He turned and began a leisurely walk back in the direction
Jacen had come. He leaned heavily on his cane at each step of his right foot.
Several minutes passed before Streen said anything. When he did, he cleared
his throat and began, The Jedi are in ruins. They once relied too heavily on
organization, on the institution of the so-called Jedi Order. They didn't trust their
feelings to guide them where to go, what missions to take. They simply waited for their
masters to tell them what to do. They turned a corner and he continued.
That's why they've all wandered off, including myself. The Force has had such a
pull on us all that we've had little choice but to return to our origins. In essence, we've
all gone home.
Jacen slowly shook his head. Why?
Evolution, was all Streen said.
What? Jacen asked incredulously.
Evolution, he repeated. The Force is not just a power that the Jedi tap into. It
too is a living force. Just as the Jedi evolve, so does the Force.
Jacen, stopped walking, wiped his face with his hand, then shut his eyes really
tight for a moment. So, he began, taking a moment to collect his thoughts, what does
this have to do with me?
Streen grinned. Exactly. He began walking away from Jacen, laughing lightly
as if he had just told the punchline to a joke.
Jacen was visibly frustrated, so he caught up with Streen and stopped him by
grabbing his right arm. Streen looked somewhat offended. Alright, look. A few days
ago I heard a voice in a shiny white place, I woke up on a dangerous planet, I was
imprisoned, then found out that ysalmiri somehow restored my Force abilities which
makes no sense at all
Jacen.
then Uncle Luke sends me to Bespin for I don't even know what reason, and I
find you
Jacen! Streen shouted, interrupting him.
He took a deep breath, and sagged. What?
Streen smiled broadly, and said gently, Go home. With that he began to walk
away, leaving Jacen standing in the middle of town, alone. Some rawwks fluttered by,
perching on an antenna. They squawked once at Jacen and they flew off in Streen's
direction.
Go home.
What home? The only place he could ever consider home was the Chief of State
quarters on Coruscant when his mother had held office. He had returned there once
before during the Yuuzhan Vong war, only to find it overgrown with vong-formed plants
and animals, large enough and deadly enough to consume any would-be visitor.
There was no chance nor any reason for him to go back there.
But maybe that's not what Streen meant. He had told him that all the Jedi were
returning to their origins. He was one of few Jedi who had called Coruscant home, not
just because they lived at the Temple, but because he grew up there, had explored and
played and learned and loved. That was his home. At least, that's what he thought.
But why go home?
An image formed in his mind. It started slowly, growing. He saw the galaxy from
it's very center, not far from where Coruscant lies. He felt the massive group of force-
sensitivity on that planet, the hundreds, maybe thousands of Jedi that had trained there.
Then it exploded. Not the planet itself, but his awareness of the Force. Lines of
light arched in all directions, at first just a blur of motion, until each individual lineeach
Jedifanned out and landed in every sector imaginable. When they reached their
destination the entire galaxy lit up like a fireball. Not a consuming fire, but a healing
warmth that brought light and wisdom to all beings.
The entire galaxy suddenly imploded and condensed into a singularity, a thought,
an idea, that burned with truth in Jacen's mind.


Everyone was staring at him and murmuring.
It wasn't unexpected. Once he had boarded the shuttle that would take him back
to Coruscant, he decided the illusion to hide his identity was no longer necessary.
Knowing what he knew, these people would eventually change their minds about him
anyway. Certainly there would be doubt, but for now he felt no real threat from anyone
on board the shuttle. They were too afraid to confront him, or approach, or even sit
near him. He sat in the back, and the rest of the passengers migrated toward the front
once they recognized him.
Streen had opened a door for Jacen. He wasn't sure why it had to be Streen to
accomplish this. Perhaps it was because he had been a hermit most of his life and
knew the idea of being separated better than any other Jedi. Perhaps it had something
to do with his ability to read minds. Or perhaps it had only to do with his character.
Considering how long ago Luke had originally met Streen, and given that he was
already advanced in age at the time, Jacen surmised that Streen might be the oldest
living Jedi. It didn't really matter though. All Jacen really knew was that he had a new
mission. One that involved everyone he had ever known.
He glanced up at the passengers ten rows ahead of him and noticed one large
human male in dirty work clothes that was glaring at him with particular disdain. He was
a head taller than most of the other passengers, with broad shoulders, looking only
vaguely human as a result. This man surely recognized him. Unfortunately it looked
like he was going to do something about it.
Jacen sat motionless, expressionless. His backpack resting on the seat beside
him. He could sense the man's rise of emotion. The adrenaline starting to pump
through his veins. He could feel the conflict within him, the decision that was slowly
forming in the man's mind until
the man stood up, and began a slow march down the center aisle between the
seats, his eyes burning a hole in Jacen's soul. Jacen still did not look up or even
acknowledge his proximity.
The man stopped at his row. You Jacen Solo?
Finally, Jacen met his gaze. You know that I am.
His voice became venomous. You killed my brother.
How did I do that? Jacen asked genuinely.
He was aboard a starcruiser that was gunned down by the... Anakin Solo, he
said the last words dripping with enmity. The Anakin Solo had been Jacen's flag ship,
his fortress, his tool of destruction. What a fool he had been.
I'm very sorry about that, Jacen replied, meaning every word.
Oh, really. He had a change of heart! the man shouted as if he had an
audience. In fact, everyone else on board was watching at this point.
More than just my heart changed, trust me, Jacen said, as if carrying on a
casual conversation.
This man, however, was anything but casual. He reached for Jacen's shirt and
pulled him out of his seat, then shoved him down the aisle. He grabbed him again and
held him so that their eyes met. Jacen's feet barely touched the floor. Do you think this
is funny? the man growled.
Jacen didn't answer, but something came over him. It wasn't a feeling or even an
idea. It was more like muscle memory, as if he had done it a thousand times before.
Everything slowed down. He found himself raising his hand toward the man's face. He
didn't seem to notice it, as if Jacen's hand was moving too fast for him to see it. He
curled his small and ring fingers, and pointed with the other two, sort of like children
often did to pretend they were shooting a blaster. His fingers found their way to the
space between the man's eyes above his nose, and lightningnot real lightning of
course, but invisible and just as immeasurably significantexploded from the Force,
coursed through Jacen's body, his fingers, and into the deepest most profound part of
the man's mind. Universes erupted inside it. Life and power flooded him. Awareness
became a super nova.
The man let out a terrified yelp and dropped Jacen to the deck. They both lied
there for a couple minutes, and then the man came around, gasping, Whatwhat did
youdo to me?
Jacen wasn't sure, but answers crept back into his subconscious, some bubbling
up to the surface of conscious thought. He remembered.
He remembered what he had realized back on Bespin. The streams of light
enveloping the galaxy. Except those streams were people. Jedi, to be specific. What
he had witnessed in that vision was a representation of what had already happened.
The Jedi had left the center of the Republic Alliance and gone back to their home
planets, meaning that the Jedi were evenly spread all throughout the known cosmos.
And he had just given a total stranger the Force.
Jacen, with his new-found power, had opened the door for that poor man. He
pitied him, simply because of how overwhelming it must feel. Force-sensitivity was
something that people were born with, not given. But he had done it. He gave the man
that potential, the ability to feel the Force, to use it, to draw strength and knowledge
from it.
What terrified Jacen in that moment was that the rules that applied to the Jedi
would also apply to this man as well. The dark side loomed in Jacen's forethought.
Then he noticed something else. Jacen could feel the Force. This was not an
extraordinary thing except for one fact: he had moved outside the ysalmiri's range of
affect. Apparently he didn't just give this stranger the Force, but he had somehow given
it back to himself.
Jacen looked back at his new found-fellow-potential Jedi. Rising, he walked over
to him and held out a hand to help him stand. The man accepted the hand and climbed
to his feet, dusting himself off. He could see in the man's eyes that something had
changed in the core of his being. Jacen could relate. He had had the Force taken from
him by Vergere. When he reconnected to it, it was like gasping air again after being
practically suffocated for weeks. This man could breathe.
Jacen wasn't sure what to say. Welcome to the Jedi Order? No, this man
needed to hear something more calming.
He settled with, It's okay, my friend. What I've given you is something I've never
given anyone before. Your life is going to be far different now. You'll know things,
understand things, be able to do things that you couldn't previously. But don't be afraid.
You're not alone.
Shock was still registering on his face, but the man eventually stuck out his hand
in greeting. Gen. My name is Gen.
Jacen took Gen's hand and shook it firmly. Nice to meet you, Gen.


As they both filed off the shuttle on Coruscant, the ysalimiri cage left forgotten on
the seat, Gen followed him around like a lost nexu. Not that he had a problem with that,
it was just awkward at first to have someoneso obviously strong on his ownrely on
him, trust him, and treat him with such respect, especially a person who previously
wanted to strangle the life from him for killing a member of his family. Jacen could see
the change in his eyes. A connection to the Force must have drastically expanded his
perspective. Gen no longer thought of him as an enemy, but almost a mentor. Jacen
was honestly amazed at the transformation.
He told stories about his uncle Luke, about what he had told Jacen about Yoda,
about his own training on Yavin IV. He had many questions, sometimes obvious ones,
sometimes about topics that Jacen took for granted his entire life, being born to the
Force. Like, where does the Force come from? Uncle Luke would quote Master Yoda:
Life creates it. Makes It grow. It's energy surrounds us, and binds us. How do you
use the Force? Stretch out with your feelings, as Obi-wan had said before his time.
What's the dark side? Jacen had particular understanding of this.
There is no dark side, he had told Gen.
Then what were the Jedi so afraid of? he asked.
The corners of Jacen's lips curled in an enigmatic grin. Vergere had trained him
on this very well. Gen, the only people who are afraid of the dark side are those who
have darkness already in them. In other words, the dark side is a fallacy. Little more
than a bed time story to scare Jedi children to always do good in the face of adversity.
But your grandfather, Gen replied. You said he was a Sith.
Yes, but not because the dark side made him that way, Jacen continued. His
life was full of struggles, full of pain, and he didn't know how to handle it. He allowed
these emotions to twist his mind until he became a monster.
Gen's expression turned serious. How do you deal with the dark side. Or, what
I mean is, how do you keep emotions and pain from turning you into he trailed off.
You embrace it. Pain is a natural and inevitable part of life. If you accept it,
make it part of you, it can no longer be in control of your actions. Some even believe
that pain is our payment for the good things in our life. He paused. That's debatable,
he chuckle. Still, if you are able to embrace your suffering, you will have conquered
fear. For what is there to fear if nothing can hurt you?
He could tell he was getting through to him. He hung onto every word. But he
could tell this conversation revolved around something he could not see. Gen was
holding something back. Not just about his brother being killed, but further down, at his
core. Jacen knew this would have to be addressed eventually.
They stood side by side in the landing port. Jacen was looking up, watching the
traffic of speeders in the sky lanes. In his experience, he could find calm and peace
even in the most mundane sights. A blizzard on Hoth, a lightning storm on Endor, the
flow of traffic on Coruscant. The speeders served the planet much like blood cells
serving the humanoid body.
Gen, he noticed, was watching him, glancing back and forth between Jacen and
the sky, as if trying to discern the significance of what he was seeing. Jacen glanced
over at him. You're wondering what I'm watching? Gen simply nodded. Some day
you'll find out. It's not something I can describe.
Gen shrugged. Fair enough.
Jacen nodded. We have to go see Grand Master Skywalker, he said walking in
the direction of the speeder rental station.
Wait, Gen said, his eyes widening. You mean Luke Skywalker? The guy who
destroyed the Death Star? The leader of the Jedi Order?
Wellyes, Jacen said hesitantly. But there isn't much of an order left.
Gen frowned. What do you mean?
The Jedi have dispersed across the galaxy. I'm not surprised you haven't
heard, Jacen said directly. There is no Jedi Order left. Only a group of Jedi that felt
compelled to spread themselves thin. He paused as a thought occurred to him, and
Gen was still listening intently. You're the first.
The first of what? Gen asked, perplexed.
I wouldn't know what to call it, Jacen admitted.This is going to be... interesting.
Pff, Gen rudely dismissed it.
Jacen only shrugged, then walked over to the airtaxi control board. He used the
interface to program one to pick them up and shuttle them to the Jedi Temple. Within
five minutes, a speeder floated over to the platform with a holographic designation code
matching the one he saw on the control board.
Jacen's sensed tickled the base of his spine as he realized someone was
watching him. He glanced around the platform nonchalantly and quickly eyed a woman
who was staring at him much the same way that Gen had done several hours earlier.
He looked at Gen and motioned with his head to follow. An R5 unit built into the
speeder tweetled and chirped. To the Jedi Temple please, Jacen directed to the R5,
which bleeped in confirmation. The speeder took off once Jacen and Gen had been
seated. In their wake he heard a yelp. The woman. As they sped away, he heard only
part of what she was screaming: at's Jacen So
Gen didn't seem to notice, so Jacen didn't add to the nervousness he could
already sense in him.
After several minutes of insanely busy traffic, the speeders became fewer and
farther between once they were approaching the Jedi Temple. By far the largest
structure in this sector of Coruscant, the temple seemed oddly out of place now without
the steady flow of speeders and ships coming and going, Jedi setting off to and
returning from missions.
Can you feel it, Gen? Jacen asked.
Gen frowned, then said slowly, Feel what?
Jacen merely snickered, replying, Exactly. Gen was about to question him
further, but Jacen interrupted, raising his hand. Stretch out with your feelings. This
place is immensely strong with the Force, even without the Jedi here.
Gen closed his eyes in concentration. A few moments later he spoke up, Yes. I
do feel it. It's powerful, but empty. Right? I mean, the potential is there but the lack of
presence of Jedi makes it feel... void.
Jacen grinned. Very good. Keep that in mind. You've spoken volumes in few
words. Symbolically, that is.
Gen nodded. Thank you.
Mmmthat wasn't a compliment, Jacen said matter-of-factly.
Oh, said Gen, clearly confused.
The speeder gently flew over to the courtyard in front of the temple. The R5
beeped an affirmative that they had arrived. Thank you, Jacen replied as he and Gen
climbed out.
To his surprise, he saw his sister running out to greet him. Hi Jaina.
He's gone, was her reply.
What? Who's gone?
Coming to a stop from running, she let out a big huff of air, and responded,
Uncle Luke.



It was not a difficult stretch of the imagination to discern where Luke would have
gone. He himself told Jacen about the phenomenon that was drawing all the Jedi
home. And so he and Gen had a new destination.
Tatooine.
More transport shuttles and airtaxis eventually brought them to the city of
Bestine. The difference between the Coruscant shuttles was like comparing a dull knife
to a lightsaber. Tatooine was not a hospitable planet by any means, and Bestine felt like
the worst place to be on the planet, including the krayt dragon graveyard. Fortunately,
this dusty, gritty, rude and crude town was closest to their destination.
I have a bad feeling about this, said Gen, essentially speaking the obvious.
If you didn't, I would be worried, Jacen responded. They stood outside the
starport and already Jacen could sense the animosity building in the few people walking
through town. Jacen was certain they were already being marked by a number of con
artists or petty theives. Let's go, Jacen suggested, and they moved off in the direction
of the cantina not far from the starport.
How exactly are we going to get there? Gen asked, referring to their actual
destination.
You know how to hijack a speeder? Jacen answered with a question of his own.
Gen went silent for a moment, then admitted, Yeah, I do. He sighed, and
continued with a grimace, One of my less admirable traits as a Jedi apprentice, eh?
On the contrary, a skill is a skill. How you use it determines whether it is
admirable or not. In this case we're trying to find the Grand Master of the Jedi Order, so
I at least would consider it a means to an end. Jacen scanned the speeders parked
outside the cantina. Which one? Jacen asked with a raised eyebrow.
Gen was blatantly uncomfortable, but obeyed none the less. He strolled
inconspicuously over to a two-seated landspeeder, probably older than himself. He
looked around casually to see if anyone was looking, which seemed almost
unnecessary in such a place. He hopped in the driver's seat and got to work.
Jacen watched silently, while keeping an eye out for anyone who even cared
what they were up to. A minute passed. Psst. That was Gen's signal. Jacen walked
backwards toward the speeder, then climbed in next to him.
As the repulsor lifts wirred to life, Jacen saw a drunk Gran stumble out of the
cantina, oblivious to most things as intoxicated as he was, but not so when he noticed
Jacen and Gen in the speeder. His speeder apparently, because he began howling and
growling at them, but completely unable to walk in a straight line.
Punch it! Jacen shouted, and Gen complied. They jerked backwards quickly to
make space, and then rocketed off into the distant desert sands, the Gran shouting
obscenities in their trail.
At this speed, they would arrive at their destination in less than half a standard
hour. As Gen held the steering controls he glanced over at Jacen, saying, Are you sure
he'll be there? I mean we came all the way to the outer rim on your hunch and
it's not a hunch, trust me. Of course, Jacen understood his skepticism. They
had traveled far, and he had offered no explanation. This was not an accident. Jacen
was trying to teach Gen the power of faith. Sometimes ideas seemed so unlikely as to
be laughable, but with faith anything was possible.
In time they began passing moisture vaporators, spaced almost a kilometer
apart. Moisture farms were probably the most important resource Tatooine had, given
the planets complete lack of natural water sources. It also happened to be the business
that Luke Skywalker's Aunt and Uncle were in when he was a boy.
Soon they saw a small building in the distance. A dome. Then other minimal
structures. Then they saw him, standing with his back to them, cloak flapping in the
high winds. He looked like a statue.
They stopped the speeder well away from him, they hopped out of the speeder
and walks the rest of the way.
Welcome to Tatooine, said Luke with a warm smile, or more specifically my
aunt and uncle's homestead. Then he looked to Gen.
On that cue, Jacen spoke up, gesturing an introduction to the two of them.
Master Skywalker, this is Gen of Bespin. Gen, this is Grand Master Skywalker.
Gen bowed deeply, his voice a little shaky when he said, It's an honor to meet
you, Master.
And you as well, Luke replied with a similarly deep bow.
Once the pleasantries were over, Jacen began his explanation of what had
happened on the shuttle between Gen and himself on his way back from Bespin.
Fascinating, Luke acknowledged, and he certainly did sound fascinated.
Jacen began surveying the area. The structures spread about the area, the deep
hole in the desert floor that seemed to be the main access to living space. Jacen
couldn't tell. Most of it was covered in sand. The desert had reclaimed the Lars
homestead.
Gen looked like he had a question, but Jacen got to it first. Why are you here?
I think you know why, replied Luke.
Well I know we're all being pulled toward home, but why here? This place is
nearly destroyed.
Luke took a breath and let it out slowly. This is where it happened.
Oh, you mean
yes. Where they were killed. Where I found my Aunt Beru's and Uncle
Owen's remains, he pointed in a general direction, after the Empire killed them. The
only family I had.
Jacen looked sad, but he couldn't read Luke's face. I'm really sorry, Uncle
Luke.
Luke smiled appreciatively. It's okay. I've had fifty years to come to terms with
it. But that's not the important part.
Oh. What is?
Luke looked at the two of them. This is where it started. Where I finally decided
to become a Jedi. Ironically, had the Empire not killed them, I might have never gone
with Obi-wan. The Empire created my life as a Jedi, he paused significantly, They
destroyed themselves.
Jacen's eyes widened with awe. He looked over at Gen, who shrugged. It was a
circle, as he saw it. The Emperor, a Sith, created the Galactic Empire. Their
stormtroopers killed Luke's only family, which gave him motivation to become a Jedi.
He faced Darth Vader, and Vader killed the Emperor. The Sith killed the Jedi, but they
also created one. One that would ultimately destroy them.
Luke finally turned to address them directly. It's the origin. We all have many
such origins, but some are more significant than others. The day they died was the
origin of... a great many things. Understanding your origin can help you understand
your path.
Jacen nodded emphatically. I couldn't agree more. Having lived through so
many horrors in so little time, Jacen knew the significance of what his uncle was saying.
Jacen's origin lied out there, he thought, as he gazed at the sky. The world ship on
which he learned about pain was still floating in space somewhere, forgotten. And as if
Luke was as clairvoyant as Streen, he picked up on his thoughts.
Jacen, he spoke softly, you have to go back too.
Back? Back where? Coruscant? We were just there! Just because I lived
there doesn't mean it feels anything like home. Not anymore
That's not what I meant, Luke interrupted.
Jacen only frowned. Slowly, gradually, understanding formed on his face.
What? Why?, he asked, now shaking his head in defiance. Why would you want me
to go back to the world ship!
I don't want you to. The Force does. That is the way of things. The way of the
Force.
Jacen knew in his heart that he had nothing to fear, but that didn't stop the
stomach acid from tickling the back of his throat. He squeezed his eyes shut as hard as
he could until he could focus and calm down.
How could he go back to the world ship? Technically he couldn't. Vergere had
explained to him that the places he had visited there were eventually, using Basic,
digested. The world ship itself was a living organism, like all Yuuzahn Vong technology.
The next logical step for him would be the Yuuzahn Vong homeworld.
Zenoma Sekot.


CHAPTER 5

Zenoma Sekotpronounced like see coatwas unknowably ancient. The Jedi
of old had records in the archives of this planet, describing some of the strangest of
sights. Like the Vong, the planet and the inhabitant's technology was biological in
nature. As for whether Zenoma Sekot was actually the Vong's origin, even the Jedi
archives did not reach that far into the past.
The Vong, however, after being defeated by the Galactic Alliance, had moved
from Coruscant, and chosen it for their home. Everyone was happy with the
arrangement, and so the war had ended. After which, Jacen had taken the following
five years of peacetime to learn from other sources about the Force.
He had learned the most from the Fallanassi, not necessarily by way of wisdom,
but rather by technique. They had a similar view of the Forcethough they called it the
White Currentto the Jedi, but were able to do things that, as far as Jacen knew, no
Jedi had ever accomplished. That had been his entire reason for visiting them. That,
and the interaction with them that Luke already had. He spoke of teleportation and
illusions that had left him scratching his head.
It was the former that Luke was trying to describe to Jacen. He thought Luke
was out of his mind.
When Jacen and Gen had returned to Bestine, Luke had decided to return with
them. As Jacen had started heading for the starport, Luke stopped them. It was then
that he had brought up the subject of teleportation.
Uncle Luke, Jacen said with a sigh of frustration, how in the universe am I
going to accomplish that? Do you have any idea how far away Zenoma Sekot is from
here? It's on the opposite side of the galaxy! It's impossible!
You of all people, Luke countered, should know that nothing is impossible.
Yeah, but, don't you think this is pushing the boundaries?
Of course, Luke said with an enigmatic smile, That's why you have to do it.
Luke began to describe the technique. He admitted that he had never
succeeded in doing it himself, but Wialu, leader of the Fallanassi, had explained it to
him in great detail. It involved focusing the Force in such a way as to see it on the
quantum level. Jacen recalled having used a similar technique to hide himself from
detection in the Force, wherein he imagined the lack of solid edge to his body on the
atomic level. In terms of scale, there was more space between atoms than there was
distance between stars. Ironically, this was a concept he had taught Luke's son Ben.
What Luke was suggesting however, was something far more difficult than an
illusion. You have to use the Force to look deeper into reality, deeper into your
existence, than the most powerful microscope. Beyond atoms, beyond quarks. You
need to see the foundation of the universe.
The concept was mind-blowing. The technique, however, was incomprehensible,
but he promised his uncle he would try. Then something occurred to him.
What about Gen?
Luke looked confused. What about him?
How is he going to get to Zenoma Sekot? Jacen asked.
The same way you are. You can take him with you.
I had a feeling you were going to say that, he said, dropping his chin to his
chest. Then he felt a comforting hand on his shoulders.
I believe in you, Jacen, Luke said, but there was something in his voice and his
eyes. That's when Jacen realized the significance of what he had just said to him.
Jacen, the murderer of Luke's wife Mara Jade, was getting a second chance. More
importantly he was getting that chance from the person who should be most angry with
him. He suddenly felt a great weight rise from his body. His mistakes were being
forgiven by the only person who could forgive the horrific things he had done. At the top
of the list, Luke Skywalker represented the spirit of the galaxy. If he could forgive him,
then maybe Jacen had a chance at making up for all the wrong he had inflicted.
Jacen imitated Luke by placing his hands on his uncle's shoulders, and said,
Thank you, with great profundity.
Luke smiled, a tear forming in the corner of his eye, and let go of Jacen. He
walked away from the two of them until the blowing sands obscured their view of where
he was headed. Soon he was gone entirely.
Jacen arched an eyebrow at Gen. You ready?
Are you kidding me? he responded sarcastically.
I've been able to do a lot of new things in the past week or so, Jacen explained,
pausing the shake his head in frustration, but this is totally different.
Is it? Gen asked
What do you mean?
Didn't you tell me that Yoda said, 'It's only different in your mind'? Gen pointed
out.
That gave Jacen pause. He opened his mouth to counter the notion, but closed
it again as he realized Gen was right.
At the time, Yoda was talking about levitating rocks versus an x-wing fighter, but
I suppose it applies to this too. If a Fallanassi could teleport a short distance, then
maybe they could pop all the way over to another planet. I wonder if any of them ever
tried it, Jacen trailed off in deep thought.
Jacen?
Hmm? What?
Do you think you can do it? Gen asked, sounding slightly doubtful.
Jacen puffed up his chest and said, We're going to find out.
Obviously, because of what they were going to attempt, they would need to be
out of sight. And so Jacen and Gen walked past the outskirts of Bestine, behind a sand
dune, where they could not be seen. With each step away from the town they made,
Jacen's anxiety grew more intense. His uncle apparently believed in him, had
confidence in him that he could do what most people would call impossible. He
supposed it wasn't all that shocking, considering the things he had done so far.
Resurrection. Moving through a Force-field. Invisibility. Giving Gen the Force. He had
a huge bag of tricks, it turned out. Why not add another one to the list?
Once they were hidden, he turned to Gen. You realize this has never been
done. It wasn't a question.
Yeah.
And that if I make a mistake, we could both be killed.
Yep.
And you're okay with this?
Sure.
Jacen couldn't believe how certain Gen was. Are you afraid?
Not really, Gen answered, and an expression passed over his facial features
that Jacen had not seen before. After my brother died, he continued, his voice a little
shaky now, I stopped being afraid of death. Part of me wanted He trailed off,
looking down at his feet in the sand.
Jacen wasn't sure what to say, so he decided to stay silent. Gen didn't finish his
sentence. He waited until he was more composed. Jacen didn't know what secret Gen
was keeping from him, but he knew Gen would tell him when he was ready.
Gen looked back up, and the tough, confident expression Jacen had come to
notice as his neutral demeanor had returned.
Ready? Jacen asked, tentatively.
Ready.
Jacen wasn't sure what to expect from this attempt. He was scared, but not for
himself. If he failed, Gen could be hurt.
He closed is eyes, entering into a meditative state as he had done countless
times before as a Jedi. He had to focus his mind, however, in a way that he had never
done before. He began looking, mentally, at the particles of dust and sand floating
around him. Then went further, examining the atomic structure of those particles. That
was as far as he had ever gone. Now though, he had to push. Hard. He drove his
consciousness like a drill into atoms he was observing. He began to sense the
electrons and neutrons that made up the atoms. At this point these components began
losing their shape, and felt more like a vibration. A profound hum filled his entire being,
and at this point existence became clear as a crystal snake. Reality was not whole.
Not even close. And yet, even amongst all the nothingness, there was still
something. He could call it the Force, but that would be a limited label. This was
substance that was insubstantial. Dark, yet shone with the light of power and existence.
It was at this level of reality that something changed inside Jacen's mind. He had
always thought of things being separate, no matter how connected they were, even with
the Force. But here, down in the infinitely minute, there were passages. Tunnels.
Gateways. Free and expansive movement. Nothing to hold you back, because there
was enough room for everyone and everything. And the substance was the power, that
was the transportation. So he thought of Zenoma Sekot. He reached out...
...and was flung across the cosmos.


Time and space stretched and flexed as if made of jelly, expanding and
contracting simultaneously. When Jacen became aware of this, that was when he
heard it.
Hello again, Jacen.
It's You.
yes, it's Me.
Who are you?
who am I not?
What do you want from me?
what do you want for yourself?
Answers. What's happening to me?
something wonderful.
What should I do?
whatever you feel is right.
What if what I feel is wrong?
...


Jacen didn't hear the response. Only a muffled, distant answer that he couldn't
fathom. When he awoke, he found myself, once again, lying face down in mud. He
wasn't hurt but his head was spinning like a hyperdrive engine. He reached out and
tried to grab something, anything stable that would anchor his perception. He felt
something hard to his left. It was thin, and became wider the farther he reached. A
tree. He grabbed it with all his strength to upright himself.
He heard Gen moaning, obviously affected by the journey similarly. Once Jacen
accomplished getting into a sitting position, he opened his eyes.
Before him and beyond him was a landscape so beautiful that he thought he was
hallucinating. He shut his eyes tight, opened them again and saw the same thing. They
were in a valley. Plants in all imaginable shades of green grew from the hills that
climbed to all sides. His eyes followed the curve. He had to tilt his head back
significantly to take it all in. Doing so brought on yet another feeling of vertigo, but he
did briefly notice the fantastic, snow-capped mountain ranges that surrounded the
valley.
Whoa! Gen was on his feet, apparently not as dizzy as Jacen, his eyes gaped
open. I had no idea.
Jacen, however, did. This wasn't his first trip to Zenoma Sekot. Maybe by this
means, sure, but he otherwise knew what to expect. Still, this planet was unfathomably
gorgeous. And he wondered if it had something to do with the fact that the planet was
alive. Not just full of living things, but alive as an entity, a being that could communicate
with its inhabitants. It called itself Sekot, the spirit of the planet. While Zenoma was the
name of the body, the physical planet itself. With a consciousness, he imagined it being
shaped by Zenoma, as if to make it pleasing to the eyes of those who lived here.
As Jacen finally got his bearings, he slowly got to his feet, testing his balance.
He straightened his back and titled his head from one side to the other. The dizziness
was now almost completely gone.
Approaching them was a trio of Yuuzahn Vong warriors, about 100 meters away
shouting and hacking in their gutteral language.
Gen swore under his breath. Vong.
Jacen wasn't sure whether to be relieved that he was being greeted, or afraid
that they had mistakenly stumbled onto some restricted land. They did not wear the
typical vonduun crab armor. Perhaps warrior wasn't the correct label for these
individuals. Jacen imagined that the warrior class would have diminished since their
arrival on this planet. They weren't obsessed with galactic domination anymore, after
all. Still, these three had amphistaffsno, not amphistaffs. The weapons coiled around
their arms did not have a blade tail. Instead, the tail ended like a baton. The shapers
must have created a new race of creature-weapon. Something not deadly, but would
allow its user to defend himself if necessary. Jacen wondered if that was even
necessary. They might be decorative, for all he knew.
Qorih! the head Vong shouted.
Gen glanced over at Jacen with a funny arched eyebrow. Jacen simply raised a
hand to both Gen and the Vong.
We come in peace, he said calmly. I am Jedi Jacen Solo. Perhaps you've
heard of me? It was rather likely that they had, given his battles with them in the past.
The leader tilted his head, apparently not grasping Basic all that well. Jeedai?
He said something gutteral at the other two Vong, then extended his hand. The
creature coiled around his arm suddenly uncoiled, straightened, and extended into what
looked like a simple bo, dark and scaley like an amphistaff, but lacking the venom-
spouting fangs where the amphistaff head would be, as well as the atomic-diameter
blade on the other end. This was more comparable to a large worm. Still, it had the
same flexible and also stiff characteristics that it could transform into.
This Vong was looking him up and down, examining his appearance, trying to
size him up. He slowly used his bo to open Jacen's cloak to see his belt. Jacen knew
what he was doing. He was looking for a lightsaber.
Your weapon, the Vong said, barely discernible as Basic.
I don't have one, Jacen replied matter-of-factly.
The Vong seemed shocked. Jacen knew that amongst the warrior caste of the
Yuuzahn Vong, to be without one's weapon, essentially defenseless, was not just a
mistake. It was impious.
The Vong huffed, walked briskly back to the other warriors, and grabbed the bo
off of one of their arms. He flung it in Jacen's direction, the snake-like creature turning
rigid in midair. Jacen caught it with one hand.
Prove! the vong hacked.
Jacen understood. Before they could allow him to continue walking on their
territory, he had to prove who he was. What he was. He bowed slightly, then took the
bo, whirling it around him in a complex pattern that made it difficult to tell where the end
of it was. He stopped its spinning abruptly, one end of the bo pointing directly at the
Vong leader's head.
The leader roared and swung his weapon from above toward Jacen's skull. He
easily blocked it, holding the bo horizontally. The two weapons made a clack that
echoed through the valley.
Swiftly, Jacen pivoted on his right foot, spinning the leader's bo until he caught it
under his armpit. He kicked the Vong in the wrist, who howled in agony as the bone
snapped. Holding both staffs, Jacen swung them from either side, connected with the
Vong's head simultaneously. The leader went limp and collapsed in the dirt.
He felt the staff's joyous success, their satisfaction at being useful in a victorious
battle. Instinctively, he commanded the staffs to flex and coil around both his arms.
All of his happened in a matter of seconds, but it felt so natural to Jacen that it
was like his action were happening through him. As if he had lost control. He knew the
lie, however, behind that statement. Vergere had taught it to him. No one ever loses
control. They simply do things that they didn't think they were capable of.
Everyone was amazed at the speed at which Jacen had dispatched the leader,
including himself. Obviously, he had somehow retained his combat knowledge. But
there was more. In training as a Jedi he was always told to leave emotion out of it.
Sure, his experience as a Sith said the exact opposite, but he hadn't thought like a Sith
in a relatively long time. This however... felt good.
Nice work, Gen commented, looking somewhat suspiciously at Jacen.
The other two Vong stood with mouths agape but quickly dropped to their knees.
Jee-dai Solo, they spoke in in turn, and surprisingly clear command of Basic. They did
know who he was. So why the display?
Jacen walked up to the Vong, taking a knee, and putting his hands on each of
their shoulders. Rise, my friends.
They glanced at each other and then to Jacen. Vlekin Yun, said the Vong to his
left. They then stood, saluted him by firmly placing their fist to their chest, turned and
motioned for him to follow.
He heard Gen walking up next to him. What did he just say to you?
If my grasp of Yuuzahn Vong is accurate, he called me a minor god, he said,
kneeling down next to the unconscious leader. His Uncle Luke had taught him a
technique that he learned from Obi-wan Kenobi himself, placing his hand on the Vong's
forehead. He reached inside, flooding his former opponent with the Forceor what
consisted of the Vong's part of the spectrum in the Force.
His eyes eventually fluttered open. When he saw who was standing over him he
reeled away from Jacen. He muttered something under his breath before standing and
confronting Jacen. At first Jacen thought he was going to resume the fight, but stopped
directly in front of him. Tchilatte Yun-Yuuzhan, he spoke with a surprisingly quiet
reserve.
Jacen repeated the phrase. Tchilatte Yun-Yuuzahn. It meant, essentially, the
will of God.
Just as quickly as the Vong had arrived, the began walking away, motioning for
Jacen and Gen to follow.
Gen shivered, following behind Jacen. Where do you think they're taking us?
I have a theory, but I won't ruin the surprise for you, he said, glancing at Gen
with a smirk.

The walk turned into a hike. The hike turned into a journey. The journey turned
into a trek.
They moved on foot for hours with no explanation from the Vong. When they had
reached the base of a mountain, they were met by a group of them, holding the leashes
of three-meter tall, six-legged creatures with mounts strapped to their backs. As Jacen
had once before, he again had trouble classifying these animals. At about four meters
tall, they were not lizards, not mammals. They were birdlike only because of their
beaks, and the scales actually had feathered tips. Around their heads were long furry
manes. Jacen was at a loss.
Gen was the one to comment on it. What in Corellia's nine hells are these
supposed to be.
Jacen chuckled. Get use to it. The Yuuzahn Vong are notorious for creating
things that humans can't comprehend. Gen just shrugged.
The Vong pointed to the creatures. Sone'vung, the leader barked. He must
have been referring to their name. Jacen had never heard that word before, so he
assumed it was what they were called. It was one of the more elegant words in the
Yuuzahn Vong language. Most of them were harsh, unpronounceable by most
humanoids.
Jacen motioned for Gen to follow as he used the Force to leap up on to the
saddle, high up on the sone'vung's back.
Um, Gen was scratching his head. He watched as the Vong leaped similarly up
onto the backs of the creatures, leaving Gen alone on the ground. How am I supposed
to get up there?
Jacen looked over his shoulder, You have to let the Force flow up through you,
almost like the wind in a hawkbat's wings. Just close your eyes and feel yourself getting
lighter.
Gen looked dubious but shook his head and closed his eyes.
Now breathe, Jacen spoke gently. Gen was obviously concentrating hard, his
brow furrowed in frustration. Then to his astonishment, he began to feel lighter. He
didn't dare open his eyes, but soon he was on his toes, then his toes were centimeters
off the ground. Then a meter. Then two.
He suddenly found himself on the saddle of his sone'vung. I can't believe it,
gen exclaimed in astonishment. I did it! After a moment, Jacen burst out laughing.
What's so funny?
Oh not much, he said with a grin. I helped you. I used the Force to lift you up.
But I can say you were doing well to assist me. It wasn't all me.
Oh, Gen said quietly in disappointment.
It's okay, Gen. I just wanted you to see what it feels like. You're just getting
started. Soon you'll be leaping meters into the air with the Force. You need only be
patient.
Gen grimaced a little, but nodded in agreement. Jacen could tell that he wasn't
completely humiliated. In fact it seemed he had ignited a spark in Gen's heart. He was
beginning to see the wonders that came with being in touch with the Force.
The following travel that they had to endure on the sone'vung, while more
comfortable, was equally as distant, and considerably more dangerous. They were in
the mountains now, on paths that were precarious. One wrong step would send them
tumbling thousands of meters below. However, these particular animals seemed
accustomed to it. They did not trip, slip, or lose their balance. Their claw-like feet, that
Jacen was just now noticing, made sure of that.
They were approaching a cloud layer as they ascended that kept their true
destination a mystery. It was so peaceful, Jacen thought to himself. He realized that he
wouldn't feel the need to leave. He had spent so much time with the Yuuzahn Vong and
their bio-technology that he couldn't really imagine any other planet being more like
home.
That's when it hit him. All the Jedi were returning to their home planets, as Luke
had told him. But what about himself? He had lived most of his life on Coruscant, or
some secret base to keep him and his siblings safe from kidnappers, so where was
home?
The most life-altering experiences he had endured took place on Yuuzahn Vong
ships and their version of Yuuzahn'tar/Coruscant. He had become who he is amongst
the Vong, because of the Vong. Zenoma Sekot, being the new Yuuzahn Vong
homeworld, could very well be the home that Jacen was meant to go to.
They were now entering the cloud layer. The fog that surrounded them made it
feel like they could step off into the abyss at any moment. Jacen sensed a great deal of
anxiety coming from Gen. He turned to look over at him, calmly saying, It's alright,
Gen. These guys have done this a thousand times I'm sure. We won't fall. He could
barely see Gen through the mist, but he didn't have to. He could feel his Force-
presence well enough to know that while he was scared, he had faith in Jacen.
And then there it was again. The secret. The part of his mind that he was
keeping from him, a memory of some kind that he didn't want Jacen to know about. He
could very easily enter his mind and find out for himself what he was hiding, but he felt
he had to respect his privacy. Eventually though, he would get Gen to open up.
Very gradually, the fog thinned. The sky grew brighter. Their guides became
more visible and the tops of the mountains now became apparent.
And directly at the end of their path, on a plateau, was an enormous sculpture. A
statue of a man Jacen had not seen in well over a decade.
Ganner Rhysode.
While their guides hopped of their mounts, and Gen simply rode up next to Jacen
with a frown of confusion, Jacen himself sat slack-jawed, just staring at the twenty-
meter-tall likeness of the man who had at one point saved his life.
Hey, I don't get it, Gen commented. Why do they have a statue of a human
with a sword? Gen asked, pointing to the long metal shaft that the figure held in a
defensive posture.
Jacen sighed, not ignoring the question, but also not sure how to answer it. All
he could think to say then was, It's not a sword, he explained, It's a lightsaber.
Waitwait, a lightsaber? Gen repeated, more confused now than before.
Okaywhy would the Vong have a statue of a Jedi!
This isn't just any Jedi. This is The Ganner, he said, pointing to the stone
plaque that lay at the bottom of the statue. It said, in Basic, None Shall Pass.
Gen was rubbing his forehead now. I'm lost, he said plainly.
Jacen went on to describe the day that Ganner Rhysode had stood at the gate of
the Well of the World Brain on Coruscant. The engraved statement were his last words,
shouted in certainty to a legion of Yuuzahn Vong warriors and war creatures. That
event had impacted the Vong in such a way that it echoed through the years, as he had
single-handedly fended off an entire military. It was one of the most impressive displays
any Jedi had shown in the entire history of the Order, or perhaps even in Yuuzhan Vong
history. He was now seen as a god of sorts, the guardian of the gate to the afterlife.
As he explained all this he noticed Gen's eyebrow arching as he went on with the
story. It was... a long time ago, Jacen said as he stared down at the engraved quote,
and his eyes began to water.
You were really good friends with him? Gen said, reading into Jacen's obvious
emotional state.
Jacen laughed out loud. Oh, not at all. We hated each other. But, on that day,
he pointed to the statue, he saved my life.
A chill crawled up his spine as a presence seemed to seep into reality and
manifest itself behind him. Ganner will always be with you.
Jacen turned abruptly, as did Gen, to the sight of a friend long dead. He could
barely speak the name: VVergere? Her eyes were as dark as a black hole, yet they
were highly reflective. He saw himself in them. He feather crest maintained a pinkish
hue. Something that perhaps constituted as a warm greeting.
You're dead, Jacen continued.
Oh yes, Vergere is gone, sadly. But I am not.
Then it clicked. He was not speaking to Vergere. This was merely an image, a
facsimile, something to make it easier to communicate with the being that was actually
standing there.
Sekot.
He explained to Gen that while Zonama Sekot was the name for this planet, it
was not a whole truth. Zonama was the body, the physical planet itself, while Sekot
was the mind, the controlling force of the actual being. Sekot was sentient, and she
could take on whatever form she wished in order to communicate to the people of
Zonama.
Once Jacen was done describing all this to Gen, he turned back to Sekot. It's
an honor to see you again.
She laughed in that wind-chime tone that he knew Vergere so well from, and her
feathers turned hot orange. The honor is mine, Jacen Solo. Or should I call you Darth
Caedus?
Jacen visibly flinched when he heard that name. No. That's not who I am
anymore.
Indeed! So very true! You have transcended death, traversed the threshold of
life itself in ways that I doubt our very own Luke Skywalker would have difficulty
accomplishing. Her tone was friendly, but Jacen was reading something else into her
words.
Wait, he paused. Wait. It was you.
Me? The image of Vergere tipped her head sideways as if confused.
The voice, Jacen said softly. As the concept dawned on his facial features,
Sekot grew more and more approving. You've been guiding me this whole time. You
spoke to me when I was dead. And as I was unconscious when we transported here.
Why? Why have you been doing this? What do you want from me?
I want nothing from you
you want only for me, Jacen finished. The phrase was familiar to Jacen.
Vergere had said that to him during his training with her.
Butbut did you bring me back to life? Jacen demanded.
Oh no, Jacen. You did that on your own. How? Who knows? I do not. Does it
matter? You are here, and while you are here there is so much you can do. Ready is
the galaxy.
Jacen stopped on those words. He had heard them before. He searched his
memory. Luke! Yes, Uncle Luke had said something like that, but backwards. It was
Yoda who had said the galaxy was not ready. For what?
For what? he asked Sekot carefully.
Instead of answering his question she walked over to Gen who was watching and
listening to the conversation carefully. As she approached, he involuntarily jerked back.
Then Sekot reached up with one of her soft fingers, and touched the spot between
Gen's eyes. She looked to Jacen with a knowing smile.
Jacen's eyes went wide. For a moment he stood still and said nothing. Then he
suddenly felt compelled to walk ten meters away as a truth so pure and simple
blossomed in his thoughts. He was to bestow upon the galaxy a gift.
The Force.
Just as he had done with Gen, he would do with still more, as would other Jedi,
spreading a force-awareness and sensitivity across the cosmos. The implications alone
were enough to make his head spin. All those people, turned Jedi. No. Not Jedi.
Force-sensitive. There was a difference. It meant that whoever was given the Force
had the potential to turn to the dark. He would have to be careful; everyone would have
to be careful. The Jedi must be selective. Not just anyone would be given the Force.
Wait. He had to stop thinking for minute. This was all too crazy. He found
himself covering his face with his hands, hyperventilating. Unexpectedly, Vergere was
there next to him, placing her long feathery fingers on Jacen's shoulder.
Don't be afraid, she said.
I'm not afraid, he responded, but paused and then grimaced. Okay, maybe I
am afraid. But it's not me I'm worried about. How can I just hand out the Force to
everyone?
You won't be. Everyone is a part of the Force already. They just don't know it.
You're simply opening their eyes.
Obviously there are many people who would be too dangerous if they were able
to touch the Force. I don't know who will receive this ability, butI think it's meant to
bring a far-reaching peace between all the planets in the Alliance. If people could feel
what others felt, they wouldn't be so callous, so quick to harm one another. Gen and
Jacen both nodded in agreement.
Vergere's feather crest turn bright yellow when she looked at Jacen. It represent
concern because she then said, Are you okay, Jacen?
He wasn't aware of it, but he had a long, sorrowful look on his face, his eyes
staring at the ground. When Vergere spoke, he lifted his head and a tear rolled down
his cheek. II'm sorry, he said as he wiped his eyes on his sleeve. It's justI
thought maybethere was some greater purpose for my existence, he stammered, his
voice shaky.
Gen frowned, as did Sekot, and she spoke first. Jacen. This is a great purpose.
The galaxy is headed for a time of great peace. What could be greater than that?
Jacen shook his head, shutting his eyes. I don't know. I just don't think giving
people the Force required me to be resurrected, he then spoke under his breath, I still
don't know how that happened. He ran his hand through his hair. Is that it? I mean, is
that all I am? A conduit of the Force? A tool?
Vergere's crest flattened, a clear sign of sadness. My poor Jacen. You can do,
or be, whatever you choose. You don't have to be limited to what the Force intended.
You are the Force. You determine your purpose. The question is, what do you want?
Jacen's head straightened instantly. What?
What do you want? Sekot repeated.
The question seemed somehow absurd. When was the last time someone
asked him what he wanted. Most of his life he was worried about what other people
were telling him to do, to be, never wondering if Jacen might want something else. He
was born a Jedi in a family full of Jedi. His destiny was set in stone. Until now. Yavin.
Coruscant, Tatooine, Zenoma Sekot. He had been bouncing around the galaxy like an
Endorian tree frog. Never enough time to think about his own wishes.
I, uh, he began. I want to see my daughter.
And so you shall, Sekot spoke with certainty.

Jacen turned, his back to Ganner's statue, surveying the valley below him. He
felt like a failure. He had been given an incredible gift, one that should be shared, and
all he could think about was seeing Allana again. Of course, he had no idea how he
would be received, but he felt that if he didn't try then it would rest inside his heart,
reminding him of his failure as a father with every beat.
He turned to face Gen and Sekot and sighed. Gen, I'm afraid this is where we
part ways. I'm sorry I couldn't train you properly.
Gen dismissed it with a wave of his hand and was most likely about to say that it
was alright, but Sekot interrupted.
I can train him.
Jacen raised an eyebrow. You can? You know the Force?
Better than some Jedi masters I've met, she said with a crooked smile. I can
teach him just as Vergere taught you.
He grimaced and shook his head. I don't think Gen would like that, I mean he
trailed off, noticing that Sekot was nodding in recognition of his concerns.
No worries, Jacen. Perhaps I could train him like your uncle's mentor. And with
that, the image of Vergere faded. A flash of light that made Jacen wince. When he
looked again, he saw a young man with very short hair, tan robes and a brown cloak.
Jacen couldn't figure out what Sekot was saying or who this was. Mentor? This was
obviously not Yoda, so it could only be...
Obi-wan Kenobi, Jacen spoke slowly with true admiration.
Sekot bowed slightly in recognition.
But how? I've never seen holos of him this young. No one has. The Empire
destroyed the Temple and the Jedi archives. Any record of him, he stopped talking, at
a loss for any more words.
That's true, Sekot spoke through Obi-wan's mouth. Jacen noted that he was
now talking to the image of a man. It hadn't occurred to him until just now that Sekot
was neither male nor female. He or she took on whatever form was most useful. But
as a young man, he and his apprentice visited here. In fact, they were here because
they were searching for Vergere, as she had gone missing.
Jacen's eyes went wide, his eyebrows rising, and he turned away. This was a lot
to take in.
Don't worry, Jacen. It's a detail that isn't important at this point.
Jacen's face took on an odd expression as something Sekot said reverberated in
his mind. He and his apprentice visited here. He looked back at him. What did you
mean about that? His apprentice? Who did you mean?
Sekot turned his head as if the answer were obvious. Anakin Skywalker, of
course.
Jacen wasn't sure how to react to that, but before he could ask any other
questions there was another flash. When he looked back at Sekot, someone else stood
there. Not a man, but rather a young man. Practically just a boy. Jacen spoke under
his breath, feeling a cold chill crawl up his spine. Vader.
No, Sekot spoke through Anakin's voice. Jacen couldn't help but feel
nauseous. Anakin's voice was so... innocent. It held none of the anger or contempt that
he knew Darth Vader would have embodied, and the contradiction was disorienting.
Anakin was a good friend to your uncle's mentor. He may have held some resentment
toward his early slavery, but he had not yet been affected by his mother's death,
Palpatine's brain washing. His only vice at the time was his enthusiasm for learning
new abilities in the Force.
You seem to know an awful lot about him, Jacen replied, not quite able to meet
his grandfather's eyes.
I've been around, was Sekot's cryptic response, as he grinned a little. Before
their eyes he morphed back into Vergere's form, perhaps to make Jacen more
comfortable.
Jacen looked to Gen, and before he could speak, Gen said, Go see your
daughter, Jacen. He had an appreciative smile on his face. Jacen simply closed his
eyes and nodded, grateful for his understanding.
It suddenly occurred to Jacen that he had no transportation off this planet. More
to the point, he couldn't just fly into the Hapes Consortium on some random ship. Then
the obvious struck him and he felt somewhat ill.
What's the matter, Jacen? came Vergere's voice.
Jacen grimaced. Wellit seems I'm going to have to do that whole Jump thing
again. He noticed Gen visibly wince at the suggestion.
Sekot nodded in understanding. It's easier the second time.
Jacen frowned. How would you know that?
I've met the Adepts of the White Current. Many of them spent much time here.
Of course, I was not where I am today, she explained.
Jacen understood. Zenoma Sekot had the ability to travel, to jump to hyperspace
just like any ship in the Alliance. It didn't surprise him that she had met the Fallanassi.
This fact astounded him, nonetheless, in how much she must know about the galaxy,
how many people she had met.
Would you like some help? she asked.
Jacen was lost in thought. Hm?, he mumbled, Oh. Yes. I mean, wait. You
can help me Jump?
Certainly, she replied.
Jacen shrugged. Whenever you're ready then.
Very well, and she gestured with her feathered hand and the universe
imploded.
It was comparable to the sensation of being hit with the Force, multiplied several
million times. He wasn't just hit, he was slammed. Torn, ripped from the known
universe, traveling at unknowable speeds. Stars and planets, black holes and nebulae,
all flowing past in the blur. Except, he wasn't seeing it with his eyes. He wasn't sure
what senses he was using, but to him the universe was suddenly as malleable as water,
and just as impossible to grasp. And he was not in the water. He was the water. It
passed through him and he through it. Whatever space he needed to occupy, he
became that form. Expanding and contracting.
Soon, the nightmarish, yet enlightening journey was over. It was worse this time,
though. He wasn't just dazed, he was comatose. Vague figures floated over him.
Some sounds that could not be discerned. Smells that were unrecognizable.
Then there was just black. For a moment of time, there was no time. He didn't
exist, and yet he couldn't experience the state of nonexistence. Still, when he woke, he
could remember everything, even the gap in his memory where there was nothing.
He was lying on his back in a bright room. He was comfortable, but as he
glanced around, he realized that the room he occupied was small indeed. And one wall
was a force-field. That was familiar.
As he started to sit up, he seemed to have alerted whoever was watching over
him. Tell the Queen he's awake, he overheard, but didn't know who said it. The room
outside the force-field was dark. None of this mattered of course. He had escaped a
similar cell mere days earlier.
Swinging his feet over the edge of the cot on which he was lying, vertigo set in
and he had to shut his eyes tight and focus. He reached for the Force, relying on it like
a crutch, something to lean on so he could get his bearings. The next time he opened
his eyes he was more stable. He was drizzy, but he knew that would pass soon.
While he was reaching out to the Force he noted that there were seven
individuals guarding him outside his cell, even if he couldn't see them. All women. He
did not find this odd, as Hapan women were usually treated as superiors to men, but it
was unfamiliar. It seemed that the vast majority of civilizations he had visited were ruled
by the male class. A curiosity, to be sure. A philosophical conundrum even.
There were three others in a passageway adjacent to the cell. They were
approaching, and something felt strange about the one woman. By the time he worked
out who it must be, the room lit up, revealing the seven guards, two chaperones and
one much more important person.
Allana! he gasped. He had no idea that seeing his daughter was going to have
such an emotional effect on him. Certainly he was overjoyed to be in her presence
once again, but there was pain there too. An ache for having been completely absent
throughout the majority of her life.
He fell to his knees and he began to weep.
Dad, the word only a whisper. Then more tersely she commanded, Lower the
force-field. Now! As soon as it was down, Allana, now a grown woman, fell in front of
her father and embraced him for what felt like an eternity. So much time compressed
into such a short moment. She removed herself from his grasp and looked into his
eyes. Dad, she said, flabbergasted. How?
Through the sobbing, Jacen let out a joyful laugh and hugged his daughter once
more. Then he stood, slowly getting to his feet. Then, as Allana rose as well, he was
amazed to see that he had to look up into her eyes. Allana had grown significantly. Her
crimson hair flowed around her head in a complex braid.
Allana. There's so much I need to tell you. So much to make up for. He nearly
began crying again, but composed himself. The galaxy is changing, he went on. I'm
not who I was before. I won't hurt you. I won't hurt anyone.
Allana was nodding and smiling. I know, I know, she kept repeating. You look
ill, she looked up at one of the guards. Get him some water! The guard she spoke to
jolted as if electrified, and she moved briskly from the room, returning several seconds
later with a large glass. Jacen took it appreciatively and gulped half of it down
immediately.
Coming up for air, he gasped, Thank you.
Allana gently placed her hands on his cheeks and turned his face toward hers, a
cautious smile on her lips. How in the world did you get here?
As Jacen began his explanation, Allana had ordered the guards from the room.
The two of them sat on a lush sofa, and she hung onto every word as he detailed the
bizarre expedition he had been on to find the reason for his existence, the various
people and planets he had visited. It was a dizzying tale. Now was the first chance
Jacen had gotten to relax and process the entire story.
So, that's it. I'm just a tool. A messenger, at best, Jacen said as he finished.
Allana was frowning thoughtfully. I disagree, she replied plainly.
How so? Jacen asked.
Well, she continued, one thing I've learned about being a Jedi is that, even
though you are basically fated to be in service to others, you can't help anyone before
you help yourself.
Jacen smiled proudly. I forget that you're a wise adult now.
I had a good teacher, she replied with a sigh.
He nodded in understanding. Your mother.
Yeah, she confirmed. You know, she really missed you.
Jacen's expression turned sad. I know. I should'veI should have been there
for both of you.
Allana reached out and touched his shoulder. It's okay.
No it's not, he said adamantly. I screwed everything up. I ruined our family. I
took the lives of millions. His eyebrows were knitted together. How can I make up for
all I've destroyed.
You can't. She shook her head. You can't do anything to repair the damage.
It's not about action. If you want forgiveness, you can only find it in the divine.
Jacen was taken aback. He had never thought of it that way. Obviously he could
not visit every single family he had disrupted in some way and apologize. Not in one
lifetime. Besides, most of them probably wouldn't forgive his actions. The Force, on the
other hand...
He looked at Allana with relief in his expression. Thank you. Really. Thank you.
No one has ever talked about the Force that way.
Enigmatically, she asked, Who said I was talking about the Force?