Force Exile VI: Prodigal/Part 2

3
Jaina Solo’s eyes shot wide open. She tried to get up, but soon realized she was unable to move. Looking down, she saw that her feet were bound together while her arms were held above and behind her in an iron grip. She was in a dirty and tattered pilot’s flight suit, replete with fresh cuts and bruises. Then, she managed to look up and saw what was restraining her arms. A pair of enormous Yuuzhan Vong warriors was flanking her, each one gripping an arm. She heard a voice call something in the harsh Yuuzhan Vong tongue and the warriors started forward, dragging her along the ground. She was surrounded by throngs of shouting Yuuzhan Vong as she was roughly hauled up some kind of ramp. Looking at the horizon, she saw shattered buildings, a skyline that looked vaguely familiar. She was on Coruscant, Coruscant during the Yuuzhan Vong War, when it had fallen to the alien invaders and renamed Yuuzhan’tar. After Anakin had died. There was a robed figure, a bit smaller than the other Yuuzhan Vong, walking behind her. She tried to struggle, but the vise-like grips of the warriors held her fast.

When the warriors reached the top of the ramp, they came to a halt, as Tsavong Lah, the grotesque warmaster of the Yuuzhan Vong armada, strutted forward triumphantly. With one clawed hand, he grabbed her chin and turned her head, showing her off to the triumphant crowd. Jaina got a good look at the massive courtyard packed with Yuuzhan Vong from her view at the top of some kind of platform. Then, Lah raised his other hand and shouted triumphantly.

“Behold! The infidel who would call herself Yun-Harla, the trickster!”

The Yuuzhan Vong quieted down. Another Yuuzhan Vong whom she recognized as Harrar the priest came up and began doing some kind of ritual on her, sprinkling her with some kind of substance and muttering. Her eyes widened in fear. She was about to be sacrificed to the bloody pantheon of Yuuzhan Vong deities.

“The twin sacrifice!” cackled Lah victoriously. “Yun-Yammka and Yun-Harla! I give this victory to you!”

Suddenly, the robed figure’s cloak was pulled away to reveal his identity. It was Jacen! The sight of her twin, however gaunt and scarred his bare upper body was, filled her with hope and elation. They had gotten out of worse situations before! Surely he had a plan-his set jaw and stern expression told her as much. She looked at him for a signal, but he didn’t return her gaze. In fact, his face looked rather alien.

The warriors hauled her to her feet as Jacen walked around behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see that her back was up against a sizable altar. Then, she was hauled to her feet and dumped onto the altar. To her surprise, Jacen was already lying on it and she was tossed right on top of him. Her head was lying on his chest, and he spoke calmly into her ear.

“It’s okay, sis. Everything’s going to be just fine,” he said, and his voice, the same one he’d used to reassure her when they were kids, calmed her.

She relaxed involuntarily, though she was still aware that they were still on a sacrificial altar. Jacen wrapped one arm around her, pulling her close to him in a protective embrace. He did have a plan after all. They were about to escape! She craned her head up to look at him for some kind of signal.

However, the look she got was a cruel smile from an alien mutation of Jacen. He leered at her, his eyes yellowed and his face somehow changed. This was not the face of her brother. A cold feeling swept through her, nestling in the pit of her stomach as she realized that Jacen was now a complete stranger to her.

“It’s going to be just fine!” he said fiercely, but it was not his voice she heard.

Then, with his left arm, he jerked her flight suit open while his right arm lifted a writhing amphistaff high and plunged it straight through both of them. Jaina gasped in pain and shock as the weapon was rammed through her body. Blood spurted out of the wound and the agony was incredible.

“Jacen. . . it hurts. . .” she wheezed.

“So die already,” Jacen whispered fiercely in her ear.

Then blackness took her.


 * Cruiser Knightfall

“All is going according to plan, Mistress,” a sibilant voice told her as she strode into her darkened sanctum, her private room on the ship.

Ariada said nothing in response, walking over to a locker and retrieving a medkit to treat her injured nose. The Thisspiassian who had addressed her slithered across the floor to follow her. The serpentine alien was her trusted right hand and had provided considerable guidance before, but even having saved her life years before did not make him immune to her wrath. Having finished applying the bandage, Ariada whirled on him, eyes glinting angrily.

“Don’t patronize me, Aspra Serpaddis,” she warned him, traces of the fury displayed at the detention center leaking through the iron emotional control she normally exhibited. “If all was according to plan, Cal Omas would be dead and we would the Jedi over Belsavis, because the Yanibar Guard would not have appeared!”

“All of our primary objectives were still met,” Aspra Serpaddis told her patiently. “Manaan was a success. Belsavis was a partial success—with Jaina Solo slain, the survival of the other pilot and Yanibar Guard intervention is irrelevant. Coruscant was a success aside from Omas’ survival, and he was a secondary target anyway.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Ariada said. “Omas needs to die in order to throw the Galactic Alliance into true chaos. Then we can strike at the Jedi. Also, nobody confirmed Jaina Solo’s death.”

“She was shot down and her fighter crashed into a glacier. We did not sense or detect any life forms on the planet.”

“Need I remind you that a little trauma and an inhospitable icefield can be overcome by a skilled and determined woman?” Ariada answered scathingly.

She herself had surmounted such odds years earlier, escaping from a Yanibar prison designed to hold Force-sensitives.

“I do not want to deal with one of the Skywalker bloodline in open combat,” she told him. “Particularly not the twins. Tsavong Lah and Shimmra learned that fatal lesson too late.”

“Garnet hasn’t detected any craft leaving or departing Belsavis since we left. It is a dead world.”

Ariada ignored him, stalking over to the command console and transmitting a series of orders.

“Set a course for Belsavis,” she said. “We’ll delay the next phase and tie up some loose ends. Are Diamond and Durindfire ready for the other Solo?”

“They are,” the Thisspiassian assured her. “The other six await your commands—and if I may add—your commendation for their skilled performance today at the extraction.”

“They deserve it,” Ariada replied, taking a seat in the expansive chair that dominated one end of the room, a throne-like piece of furniture largely obscured by shadows. “I will visit them later to bestow on them my thanks. Despite the setbacks, today was a glorious first strike against the corruption of the Jedi.”

“Yes, Mistress,” Aspra Serpaddis intoned. “There is one other thing.”

“What is it?” she asked.

“We have located a ship that might be of some interest to you.”

The Thisspiassian called up a display and a wireframe holo of a small light freighter shimmered into existence above the armrest of her throne.

“The Hawk-bat,” she breathed.

“It is here, on Coruscant,” Aspra Serpaddis told her. “And you know what that means.”

Ariada sank back into her chair.

“They’ve followed us here,” she whispered. “I suspected as much, but not this soon.”

“We do not know how many of them there are,” Aspra Serpaddis said. “We only know the location of the ship.”

“If the Hawk-bat is here, you can bet at least either Selu or Milya Kraen is here,” Ariada replied. “And probably Morgedh too. You remember Morgedh?”

The Thisspiassian shuddered. He and Ariada, along with two other Dark Jedi, had run afoul of the Noghri warrior ten years earlier. Morgedh had easily slain the other two Dark Jedi and Ariada and Aspra Serpaddis had only barely escaped him.

“All too well,” the Thisspiassian answered darkly.

“Then you know we must deal with this quickly,” Ariada said. “We can’t have the Yanibar Guard nipping at our heels the whole way through. It’s time for a change of plans.”

“We could have the six join us and attack,” Aspra Serpaddis suggested.

She shook her head. The Force-using young women she had raised and trained as assassins were capable and skilled, but they were no match for Jedi Masters or Elite Guardians in a straight fight—and neither was Ariada herself. Instead, they prided themselves on striking from the shadows, hitting unsuspecting and vulnerable targets. Stealth and deception were their tools, terror their ally, and mystery their strength.

“Morgedh alone could deal with three of ours, and he won’t be alone,” she replied. “I have something more discreet in mind. They need to realize that just as they can find us, we can find them.”

“As you wish, Mistress,” he replied obediently.

“Now leave me,” Ariada instructed. “I must rest before we can deal with the Yanibar Guard.”

The serpentine alien bowed and left, leaving Ariada alone in her dark sanctum, a fairly small chamber lit only by a faint blue glow emanating from the corners of the floors and ceilings. She perused the desks loaded with laboratory equipment, banks of computers, and displays that showed rotating wire-frame holos of ships and planets. All of it represented the culmination of years and planning that was now being unleashed on an unsuspecting galaxy.

A cruel smile spread across her face as she contemplated the results of today’s work. A ripple of shock had traveled through the weighty Galactic Alliance, and who knew how many more its structure could take before it collapsed under its own ineffectual bulk? Soon, she would have the government destabilized, the Jedi spread thin, and then, they would be vulnerable. Once they were out of the way, their defunct organization could be replaced with a more responsible group of Force-users, who both knew their strength and embraced it, for the good of the galaxy. And then there would be peace and justice.

Her peace.

Her justice.

Her way.


 * Jedi Temple

Selu Kraen slowly returned to consciousness, blinking back waves of pain. His vision blurred at first, the haze gradually resolving into a view of ceiling tiles and overhead glowpanels. A darker object—perhaps a face—swam into a view, and he felt the sensation of being touched. Realization swept over him and his eyes jolted open from the drowsy half-closed state they’d been in just a second before. He looked around to find himself lying in a bed with a female Mon Calamari looking down on him, with a small Chadra-Fan by her side.

“Hello there,” she croaked. “I am Master Cilghal. I am a healer.”

By now, Selu recalled the urgency of his mission and realized that he had fallen unconscious before he could deliver his message. He sat up quickly, gasping in agony as pain exploded through his body. His vision swam as the Mon Calamari steadied him.

“Relax,” Cilghal said. “You have been severely injured. You must rest and let your body recover.”

“No time for that,” Selu persisted, struggling to sit back up again. “I must warn the Jedi.”

Cilghal blinked, then let out the burbling Mon Calamari imitation of a sigh.

“Tekli,” she addressed the Chadra-Fan, “please let Master Skywalker know that our patient is awake.”

“Wait,” Selu told her. “There was another—a woman who helped me when I was hit.”

“That would be Jedi Knight Tyria Sarkin Tainer,” Cilghal informed him.

“Really?” Selu asked, smiling in surprise. “I’m glad to hear that. Can you send her as well?”

“Certainly,” the Jedi healer said.

“And one more thing,” Selu told her with firm determination. “I’d like my clothes and equipment back. I am getting out of this bed.”

Twenty minutes later, Selu was fully-dressed and cleaned up. He was wearing a set of Jedi robes provided by the Jedi Temple—his previous garments had been ruined when the healers had snipped them away to treat his wound. However, all of his other personal effects had been delivered by an unhappy-looking Tekli, who was quite displeased for his insistence on being up and about.

He slowly walked over to a table in one of the healing wards and eased himself into one of the chairs there, trying not to aggravate the wound in his side any more than necessary. It hurt to breathe, much less move, and despite his control over the Force and modern medicine, Selu knew that a wound that deep couldn’t simply be ignored, particularly for a man of his age.

Finally, the doors to the healing ward slid open, admitting four Jedi. Cilghal entered first, followed by Master Luke Skywalker, his wife Mara Jade Skywalker, and the Jedi Knight who had saved him, Tyria Sarkin Tainer. Selu gestured at the other three chairs and the others sat.

“Welcome,” Luke told him. “We’re glad to see you up and about.”

“Over my objections,” Cilghal put in.

“I owe my life to your care, and to Jedi Tainer,” Selu said humbly, his gaze coming to rest on Luke. “I have an urgent warning for you.”

Luke’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Selu. The man looked familiar—they had met before, many years earlier. They were both older now and it showed in the crow’s feet, the graying hair, the deep creases and additional scars, but Luke knew that this wasn’t their first encounter.

“We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

“Yes. On Coruscant, nearly seventeen years ago, at the Galactic Games, though I was using an alias at the time.”

Luke nodded sagely.

“At the time, you said you were part of the Zeison Sha, but now you come claiming to be a Jedi Knight?”

“I am both,” Selu said simply.

Luke leaned in closer, placing his hands on the table.

“Tell me.”

Selu took a deep breath. He was violating a number of Yanibar’s most sacred precepts—including a vow never to reveal the true nature of their refuge to an outsider without permission of the Ruling Council. He had not spoken to a member of the Jedi Order in over ten years, much less their leader. For years, Selu had long been suspicious of Skywalker and his dangerous lineage. Yet now, here he was, about to reveal the truth to the Jedi Master.

“My name is Selusda Kraen. I was a Jedi Knight of the Republic,” Selu told him slowly. “I grew up in the Jedi Temple. My master was a Kel Dor named Plo Koon.”

“We’ve heard of him,” Luke said, prompting Mara to lay a hand on his arm, signaling to let Selu continue.

“I served in the Clone Wars, when the entire Jedi Order was duped into fighting a three-year distraction while the real enemy prepared to stab us in the back. I was here when it happened.”

Selu’s memory shot back to that fateful day, when thousands of white-armored clones had marched on the Jedi Temple, led by a furious demon in human form, a traitor from within. He remembered the smell of blood and burned flesh intermingled with ozone, the sound of children screaming amid blasterfire. In his mind’s eye, Selu watched Skip, one of his childhood friends, gunned down by blasterfire. He recalled cradling the lifeless body of Serra Keto, a fellow Knight, slain by Vader, who had died in his arms after telling him she loved him. In that instant, all those memories flashed before his eyes in perfect clarity. The ruthlessness and horror, the sacrifice and slaughter of that day all played out in front of him were too much. A single tear rolled unbidden from one eye. Selu’s gaze dropped to the table and he took a deep breath, trying to maintain control and get the words out.

“I was there when the Jedi Temple was attacked,” he said, trying to blank out the images of the burning structure floating through his mind.

He looked up to stare directly at Luke Skywalker.

“I was there when your father betrayed the Jedi Order and massacred the Jedi at the head of a clone legion.”

Luke blanched, and the other Jedi were similarly ashen. “What happened?” the Jedi Master asked quietly.

“They took us by surprise,” Selu told him. “If the Jedi Council knew it was coming, they didn’t tell the rest of us. We couldn’t have beaten them anyway. Anakin was our best Knight, a war hero and an example for all the other Jedi—until that day. Until he cut down every Jedi in his path, even the younglings.”

“I’m sorry,” Luke said, folding his hands, clearly distraught.

He shook his head.

“I never knew my father did those things,” he answered. “I knew he betrayed the Jedi Order and attacked my mother and Obi-Wan Kenobi. . . but the Jedi Temple. . . the specifics were hushed up. I never met anyone who was there. . . until today.”

“Luke also isn’t his father,” Mara pointed out. “He saved him, brought him back to the light at the end. You can’t blame him for the horrible things Vader did.”

Selu nodded slowly.

“And I don’t,” he answered, “but he should know the truth about his father.

“I made my peace with my father a long time ago,” Luke informed him. “What happened to you?”

Selu shook his head ruefully.

“For some reason, I escaped. I don’t know why the Force chose me over all of the friends I lost that day, but it did. My biological brother found me and took me in. We left Coruscant as crewmembers on a light freighter, escaping the Mistryl Shadow Guard who were after him, and spent the next three years—,”

“Wait,” Mara said. “That timeline doesn’t make sense. The Mistryl were nearly wiped out a year after the Empire rose.”

“Yes,” Selu admitted. “I unknowingly delivered the death blow to their world.”

“You? How?” Mara asked.

“The Car’das Syndicate tricked me into smuggling a fission bomb into their headquarters, disabling the shield relays and destroying much of the city,” Selu admitted. “I had no idea it was a bomb. If my crewmembers hadn’t come for me, I would have died in the blast. Instead, thousands perished out of my desire to protect the family I had just met.”

Selu looked back at Luke.

“Your father was not the only one to carry a dark secret,” Selu said. “My hands are stained with the blood of innocents as well.”

“It was war,” Mara pointed out.

“A convenient excuse, but morally bankrupt,” Selu answered bitterly. “While we were roaming the spacelanes, we made a blind jump to escape Imperial pursuit and ended up in a remote world in Wild Space, where the ghosts of ancient Jedi gave us a new mission, infusing my friends and I with the Force power to accomplish it.”

“What was that?” Luke asked.

“To hide and preserve the Jedi Order and any other Force-sensitives in exile until the dark time had passed,” Selu replied. “And for that, I owe you my thanks—for defeating Vader and the Emperor when I couldn’t.”

“It seems you saved many lives by your actions,” Cilghal answered. “Nobody could fault you for that.”

“True. The Zeison Sha, the Jal Shey, the Matukai. . . even a few Jedi, they all came to our refuge and found safety,” Selu said. “And yet I made a choice that prevented me from ever taking an active stand against the Empire.”

“What was that?” Luke asked.

Selu gave him a wan smile.

“Attachment,” he said. “I married the most beautiful woman in the galaxy, and on the day I did, I knew I couldn’t risk her life, or the lives of my family, in a struggle that would demand exactly that.”

“So you sat out the war,” Tyria remarked.

“For the most part, yes,” Selu confessed. “We funneled some supplies to the Rebellion and built up our defenses, but for the most part, we watched, and we waited. A disastrous attack by Tyber Zann nearly overwhelmed us.”

“Tyber Zann? The crime lord?” Mara inquired. “We lost track of him after he helped raid Kuat.”

“It’s a long story,” Selu responded. “Suffice to say he met his end over Yanibar.”

Luke shook his head.

“It’s hard to believe that were so many Force-users still alive during the time of the Empire,” he said.

“We were carefully hidden,” Selu replied. “Survival and preservation were our number one goals. Occasionally, we found a few from the outside galaxy that we brought in to help and shelter. Some of them left again, their memories altered to forget about the refuge of the Force exiles. You knew one of them.”

Luke was startled.

“Who?”

“Her name was Callista,” Selu answered.

That name jolted Luke’s eyes wide open.

“Callista? You knew her?”

“She came to us in need of help. We helped restore her connection to the Force, and then she left suddenly.”

Selu smiled thinly.

“She broke my nephew’s heart in the process.”

“Seems like a recurring trend,” Mara put in acidly.

“She was not the only one we helped,” Selu said, his eyes shifting to Tyria.

The younger Jedi looked startled.

“What are you looking at me for? Wait. . . you don’t mean?”

Tyria sucked in her next breath in surprise.

“Yes,” Selu said. “You were on Yanibar for three years.”

“I don’t remember any of that,” she told him, her eyes narrowing.

“How about this?” Selu asked her, holding up a smooth metal coin.

Her eyes widened in recognition.

“A token,” she said. “I got one. . . back when I was in the Wraiths. It was important.”

“It helped you find Yanibar,” Selu told her. “It helped you complete your training as a Jedi. And a good thing for me, too—you saved my life today.”

“Actually, it wasn’t today,” Cilghal put in. “It’s been three days since you were brought here.”

“Three days?!” Selu exclaimed, jumping up. “No, that can’t be!”

“It’s true.”

Selu’s eyes darted around as pain flooded through his body from the sudden motion. He gasped, clutching at his side.

“That’s too much time,” he exclaimed in a hoarse whisper. “It might be too late.”

Cilghal rose and helped him back to his seat. Opening his cloak, she peeled back his hand and saw the dark stain beginning to spread across his tunic.

“You’ve re-opened your wound,” she told him. “I need to treat this.”

“Just stop the bleeding and patch it back up later,” Selu instructed her. “Master Skywalker needs to hear the rest of this.”

“Fine, but quickly,” Cilghal said. “You need to rest and heal.”

She knelt down at his side, pulling open his tunic and working on the dressing while Selu continued.

“Anyway,” he managed while grimacing as Cilghal probed the injury. “I owe you my life—thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Tyria said uncertainly. “Though it feels very strange not remembering so much time.”

“Maybe we can help you remember it—later,” Selu said. “As for the rest of our story, the next chapter begins in the Yuuzhan Vong War.”

“On Rishi,” Mara put in. “You were the leader of the ‘Guard’ that showed up to defend the planet from the Yuuzhan Vong. I recognize you now from Master Katarn’s report, the secret one.”

“That was us,” Selu admitted, “and while we held off the Yuuzhan Vong and saved the Rishi Maze from invasion, that was our undoing.”

“What happened?” Luke asked.

Selu groaned as Cilghal touched a particularly tender part of the wound, then shook his head to clear the pain and continued.

“One of our own fell to the dark side and escaped Yanibar,” Selu said. “She lured the Yuuzhan Vong to Yanibar and doomed our world to a slow death. We thought she had disappeared during the later stages of the war, but now she’s resurfaced. Her name is Ariada Cerulaen, and I think you’re probably familiar with some of her handiwork by now.”

Selu brought out his compact datapad and activated the holoprojector, showing a holo of Ariada. Mara gasped.

“Luke, that’s the woman who bombed the convention center and then escaped from the Isard Detention Center.”

“She did what?” Selu exclaimed. “We knew about the bombing, but the rest?”

“She surrendered, was taken into custody, and then promptly escaped from the most secure facility on Coruscant that’s not the Jedi Temple,” Mara told him. “It was about three days ago.”

Selu winced.

“That’s sounds like something she would do,” Selu said. “But I doubt that was all. We believe she was behind biological attacks on Manaan and Belsavis as well.”

“What about the assassination attempt on Chief of State Omas?” Mara asked. “Someone fired on us while I was in a meeting with him.”

“It’s possible,” Selu admitted. “And I doubt she’s done.”

“Belsavis?” Luke asked. “I sent two Jedi to investigate there a few days ago.”

“Have you heard back from them?” Selu asked.

“No,” Luke admitted. “I was getting ready to send another team after them.”

“I sent some of my Elite Guardians there as well,” Selu responded. “I’ve been out of it the last few days—they should have reported in by now. If I can borrow a transceiver, I’d like to get in touch with some other associates of mine who are on the planet.”

“Certainly,” Luke said. “Jedi Tainer, would you have one brought for us?”

Tyria nodded and slipped out.

“I came here to warn you, but the time I spent recovering has delayed me,” Selu said remorsefully as Cilghal finished with his wound and sat back down. “You might have been able to secure her if I hadn’t been unconscious.”

“You did the best you could,” Luke said. “She’s still at large, so your help in tracking her could be vital.”

“We’ve been trying to track her for ten years, without much success,” Selu replied disconsolately. “As for my help, my associates and I are here without permission. Yanibar is in the midst of an evacuation effort to leave before our planet is completely devastated and we’re here against the will of our Council. We will help you as we can, but we won’t have the full resources of the Yanibar Guard.”

“We’ll make do. The Jedi have resources of our own,” Luke told him. “What can you tell us about her?”

Selu paused, gathering his thoughts. Ariada was a complicated subject. She had fallen to the dark side, betraying her people and committing multiple atrocities in the process, only to resurface as a terrorist. Yet, Selu had also raised her like a daughter, had helped train her, and had watched her romance with his son Ryion.

“She’s a highly-trained Force-user,” he said at last. “Very intelligent, skilled, creative, and driven.”

“A little more detail might be helpful,” Mara suggested drily.

“She’s a rationalist,” Selu admitted. “Like many darksiders, she believes the ends justify the means. She’s able to plan strategically and tactically on multiple levels, and a cunning planner. She’s technically savvy, specializing in computers and biology. She’s also well-trained in infiltration, stealth, and psychological warfare.”

“Where is she getting the resources to pull off major attacks?” Mara asked.

“We don’t know,” Selu answered. “We know she was in the company of several Dark Jedi with considerable financial assets when we last encountered her ten years ago. We don’t know how many operatives she has working for her. We don’t know what kind of resources she has at her disposal, or what her plans or objectives are.”

“Master Kraen,” Mara put in. “What you’re telling me is that you don’t have much of anything on Ariada Cerulaen other than she’s out there with malicious intent.”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you,” Selu answered ominously. “And apparently, she has the resources and skill to simultaneously launch attacks of considerable impact.”

“Very well,” Mara replied. “Between us, Selu, it might have been nice of you to warn us about a brilliant, deranged, Force-using darksider with infiltration, technical, and psychological skills before she decides to go rampaging through the galaxy on a calculated terror spree.”

“To be fair, we’ve been fairly distracted with the evacuation to set up an embassy with an order we have no formal relations with,” Selu said. “Besides, we didn’t know what her intentions were. We didn’t know her motives or her targets.”

“We still don’t,” Mara replied. “And that puts her a step ahead of us.”

“Maybe more,” Luke said. “She was able to anticipate you coming here and send an assassin after you on top of her other activities.”

“Yes,” Selu answered, glancing down at his side. “But she didn’t succeed in that.”

“She nearly did,” Cilghal replied as Tyria walked back in with a transceiver for Selu’s comlink. “The slug that hit you shredded through your liver before puncturing a lung and doing considerable internal damage on its way through you. If Jedi Tainer hadn’t intervened. . .”

“I know,” Selu said. “And I’m grateful. Hopefully my wi—my associates will be able to shed some light on what she’s been doing.”

He clipped the transceiver to his comlink and activated the secure channel. The response was nothing but static. Selu frowned and tried again. Still nothing. He switched to the backup channel, but still to no avail. Now he reached out with the Force, trying to sense Milya, Morgedh, and Cassi. To his alarm, he sensed nothing. Selu sat back in his chair, jaw dropping in shock.

“Something very bad has happened,” he said.

“What is it?” Luke asked, sensing his alarm.

“They’re gone,” Selu answered frantically. “I’ve got to find them!”

“Hold on,” Cilghal said. “You mentioned that you were able to hide from the Empire for years—presumably by masking your presence in the Force. Is that right?”

“Yes,” Selu admitted. “We know ways of doing so.”

“Then maybe they are in hiding,” she suggested.

“This feels different,” Selu countered. “I know something’s wrong, and I need to look into it now.”

“Not so fast,” Cilghal said. “You’ll be lucky to make it out the door without collapsing.”

“Master Cilghal is right,” Mara agreed. “Master Kraen, you need to rest.”

“It’s not that simple,” Selu argued. “My wife is out there.”

Luke took a deep breath.

“I know what you’re going through,” he said, his mind going back to the horrors of Dantooine back in the Yuuzhan Vong War, when his beloved Mara had been sick and hunted without him there to protect her. “Can your wife and her associates defend themselves against Ariada?”

“Of course,” Selu said. “The last time Ariada ran into one of the people I have out there, she was lucky to escape with her life. She wouldn’t stand a chance against them in a straight fight.”

“Then the matter might not be so urgent,” Cilghal suggested. “You should trust your wife and friends.”

“You don’t understand, Master Cilghal,” Selu told her gravely. “Ariada specializes in creating unfair fights.”

Suddenly, Luke’s comlink chirped.

“Master Skywalker, this is Master Katarn.”

“What is it?” Luke answered the Jedi Master who was “on watch” at this hour.

“We just received a signal from Jedi Knight Zekk. He’s coming into the Coruscant system. His communications and engines are damaged, so he’ll be here in eight hours. He also has. . . guests.”

“Understood,” Luke said. “What about Jedi Solo?”

“We did not receive her signal,” Katarn answered somberly.

“Thank you, Master Katarn,” Luke said. “And stop by the infirmary in eight hours. I think there’s someone you’ll want to see.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Katarn out.”

Luke returned the comlink to his belt.

“That might be important to you,” he said to Selu.

“Why?” Selu replied, confused and still worried about Milya.

“Zekk is one of the Jedi I sent to Belsavis,” Luke answered. “The other one is missing.”

“Can you sense him?” Selu asked.

“I can’t sense her,” Luke answered. “But I didn’t feel her death.”

“Solo. . . we’re talking about Jaina Solo then,” Selu realized aloud.

“That’s right,” Mara answered. “And you better hope nothing happened to her.”

“My son and his team went to Belsavis,” Selu told her. “I can’t sense him either. I do sense two of the others.”

Luke’s face paled.

“We need to get more people there,” he said. “I’ll contact Chief Omas. Mara, can you put together a team for Belsavis?”

“On it,” she replied, slipping out the door.

“Master Skywalker, you might want some escorts to meet up with the incoming party from Belsavis,” Selu suggested. “If Ariada attacked them, she could try again here.”

“Good idea,” Master Skywalker agreed. “Jedi Tainer, recruit some pilots and take StealthXs up to meet them. See if Master Horn or Master Durron is around to help.”

“Yes, Master,” she said, heading out the door briskly, comlink already in hand.

Selu looked at Luke.

“I know there’s still a lot to talk about between us, but I’ve done you a disservice for so many years. I was afraid of you—afraid of what you represented and what you might do. I couldn’t bring myself to trust you. Too many things happened in those early years, and then there was the memory of your father and. . . what I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry, Master Skywalker. Our two peoples could’ve lived in peace years earlier if I hadn’t been so stubborn.”

“You went through a lot, hiding the Jedi for so many years during the Empire,” Luke said. “You had good reason to be suspicious and distrustful—and not all of my actions represented the ideals of the Jedi well. Consider any misdeeds towards me or the Jedi Order forgiven.”

Selu felt a wave of relief wash over him. He offered his hand to Master Skywalker, who shook it.

“Thank you,” he said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find my wife.”

“Not so fast,” Jedi Master Cilghal interrupted. “I spent several hours closing up gaping holes in you. I’m not about to have all that hard work undone so you can go chasing around Coruscant.”

“There isn’t time,” Selu persisted. “This situation is time-sensitive. Master Skywalker, tell her.”

Luke shook his head.

“Is your bandage supposed to be soaked red like that?”

“It’ll be fine,” Selu persisted, trying to rise. “I appreciate your efforts, Master Cilghal, but I don’t answer to you.”

“You do in my infirmary,” Cilghal protested. “You need to be in a healing trance now, for at least ten hours.”

“When I find the people I’m looking for, I will rest all you want,” Selu told her as he rose.

“That is your choice,” Cilghal fumed, turning to Master Skywalker for support.

“What’s your wife’s name?” Luke asked him.

“Milya,” Selu said.

The image of her face in his mind and the thought that she might be in danger spurred him to greater haste and he began walking to the door.

“We’ll use her name to wake you up then,” Cilghal told him. “In eight hours, once the pilots are back, after a healing trance.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Selu snapped, striding past her stiffly.

The Mon Calamari Jedi sighed, then slapped his wounded side with one of her webbed hands. Selu’s eyes bulged as overwhelming waves of pain exploded through his body. His knees buckled, and while he tried to augment himself with the Force, he had already been drawing on his reserves just to keep walking. His vision began to swim as he sank towards the floor. Selu tried to protest as he felt the blackness of unconsciousness approach, tried to stay awake, but his body wasn’t strong enough to keep him on his feet and resist the calming Force sensation that Cilghal was applying.

“I hope he will forgive me for that,” Cilghal said.

She extended a hand and Selu floated up from the ground towards the bed.

“In time, Master Cilghal,” Luke told her. “I just hope we have enough left.”

4
She was whole and unharmed, a younger version of herself, standing at the entrance to the Great Temple on Yavin IV. The sounds and sights of a battle in the jungle were all around her, but Jaina’s eyes were fixed on the lone figure, dressed in black, that stood before her. It was Zekk, a younger Zekk. Back when he had been turned to the dark side and made to lead a group of Imperials and Dark Jedi against the Jedi Academy. He held a red-bladed lightsaber and her own violet-hued blade was in her hands. He grinned evilly at her.

“You see, Jaina," he said, advancing to the attack. “Once you let it in, the dark side is like a disease for which there's no cure. And the only way to remove the disease-is to-cut-it-out.”

Each of his final words was punctuated by a swing of his lightsaber and she was forced to defend herself. She countered his attack, parrying his red blade away as she tried to remember how this fight had ended. Then, her memory cleared and she knew what she had to do. She saw Master Skywalker out of the corner of her eye and knew the choice she had to make.

“I won't fight you anymore, Zekk," she said, switching off her lightsaber and tossing it to the ground. "There's still good in you, but you'll have to decide which direction you want to go—starting now. It's your choice, so make the right one for you.”

He gaped at her, giving her a look that was a mixture of confusion, surprise, and anger.

“How do you know I won’t kill you?” he asked darkly.

She shrugged.

“I don’t. But I won't fight you. Make your choice,” she told him as calmly as she could.

Zekk stood frozen, watching her, saber still lit and ready.

“Well? What are you waiting for?” she asked him in a low whisper.

Slowly and deliberately, Zekk raised his glowing red lightsaber over Jaina's head and stabbed her straight through the heart. She gasped as the red-hot blade seared through her body, sending spears of agony radiating outward from her chest. This was not how the battle had played out. Zekk had been redeemed.

“It’s too late,” Zekk whispered harshly, ramming the lightsaber through her up to the hilt. “You should have acted sooner.”

Then he deactivated the blade, leaving her to collapse on the ground as the universe once again went black.

This time, Jaina awoke almost immediately, though. This time, the pain she’d felt in her chest before was still there to great extent, joined by other sharp jolts of fire running through her nerves that indicated internal injuries. This time, no other familiar figures of her life were there to haunt and kill her. Her eyes shot open to reveal that she was staring at some kind of glossy blue-white ceiling. She was hurt, she knew that much, and rather badly, especially on her left side. Slowly, the rest of her senses returned, along with a very limited amount of motor control. She was lying on her back on a blanket layered over a hard surface of some kind, and there were several more blankets piled on top of her. Jaina craned her neck around, taking in her surroundings. She was in a cave, as it turned out-bored out of ice? It didn’t seem cold enough to be ice—that was for sure—the air was quite warm. Then it came back to her—the ambush on Belsavis. Her fighter had been hit, she’d gone down. Her head had hit the canopy rather hard, which explained her pounding headache.

Whatever the case, she wasn’t in any shape to move any time soon. Judging by the amount of pain she was feeling, she must’ve crashed pretty hard. How had she ended up here? Was she a prisoner? Who were those attackers and how had they found her? These questions and others raced through her mind. Then, she noticed the figure hunched over maybe five meters away. He was sitting with his back facing her and didn’t seem to be aware that she was awake. She squinted and her blurred vision revealed that he was dressed in a military uniform of some type. As badly injured as she was, she didn’t think she could use the Force to pick up a rock, much less get information about this strange individual. However, even though she tried to remain still, he stood up and turned to face her.

The man was of average height and seemed to be about her age, maybe a little older, with long dark auburn hair. The tanned skin of his face was chapped and weather-bitten, with small cut on his forehead. His uniform, obviously designed for cold weather, was a deep gray and Jaina noticed that he was armed with a blaster and a vibroblade, as well as her lightsaber.

“Ah, you’re awake,” he said. “Good. I was beginning to worry about you.”

Walking over to her, he pulled off one of his gloves and laid his hand on her forehead, frowning.

“Where am I?” she croaked hoarsely.

“Belsavis,” he replied gently. “In a cave. You’ve been here five days, most of which you spent delirious.”

She squinted at him, searching to see if she knew him. Definitely not.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Ryion,” he said in the same calm voice as he peeled the blankets away. “I’m a friend.”

He reached for her torn and dirty flight suit’s seals, but Jaina’s right arm reached out with one hand and grabbed hold of his.

“You’re not that much of a friend,” she said.

He arched one eyebrow and gave her a look.

“I need to see if the bleeding has stopped,” Ryion told her. “And it’s nothing I haven’t seen already—how do you think those bandages got there?”

“What happened to me?” she asked.

“You crashed,” Ryion replied. “And got rather hurt in the process. You’re lucky that the control stick didn’t go straight through your heart.”

“I see that,” she said.

“Hold still,” Ryion told her. “Don’t move your body.”

“Why?” Jaina asked impatiently.

“Because you broke your pelvis, possibly some spinal damage, and if you don’t stay still, you’ll never walk normally again,” Ryion said reprovingly.

That sober message got through to Jaina and she remained motionless as he pulled off each bandage one by one. There was an oozing puncture wound through her chest, she saw, and it looked quite ugly-blood was still trickling from it. Ryion shook his head and placed his hand on the injury. A faint blue glow surrounded his hand and over the wound. Jaina gasped as she saw the injury recede slightly. The Force flowed into her from him and she realized he knew some kind of healing technique. After several minutes, he unwrapped the bandage and replaced it with a clean one, carefully laying it in place over the wound as gently as he could. This was a man who had dealt with horrific injuries and battlefield medicine before, she realized. His hands moved down her side, checking each bruise, each cut. He paused at one fairly innocuous bruise just under her rib cage, gently running a finger over it. Surprisingly, a sharp stab of pain shot through her as he did so. He saw her wince and stopped.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “There’s still a ruptured blood vessel in there or something. You’re bleeding internally.”

He left her side for a moment and retrieved a medkit, pulling out a laser scalpel.

“Again, I apologize,” he said. “I ran out of anesthetics yesterday. Even the perigen.”

“Yesterday!?” she managed. “How long have I been here?”

He shrugged, knowing that he’d already answered the question before.

“Five days,” he said. “Even with two medkits, I had to use all the anesthetics to keep you sedated. You were thrashing around in a fever.”

He leaned forward and placed his hand on the bruise again. There was a faint blue glow and the pain lessened some, but not nearly as much.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, but with more weariness. “I can’t even use the Force to deaden the pain. This is going to hurt.”

“Just do it,” Jaina said through gritted teeth. “I’ll hold still.”

And hold still she did, through five minutes of sheer misery as Ryion cut her open, found the blood vessel, tied it off, and closed her back up again. It took every milligram of her Jedi control, but she did.

Once he was finished, Ryion continued his inspection of her injuries—quite a list, she realized. Broken pelvis, broken left foot, broken left arm in three places, hairline skull fracture, broken ribs, several bruised organs, and a lovely assortment of cuts and bruises to top it all off. She decided that this would definitely not make her list of best landings.

“There’s some good news,” Ryion told her, checking over her arm.

“I’ll take what I can get,” she said.

“The bone-knitter worked on your arm and foot,” he said, removing the restraining casts from both limbs. “Also, you’re not bleeding internally anymore.”

She flexed her fingers and toes on that side experimentally.

“Everything seems to work,” Jaina confirmed.

“Good,” he replied as he cleaned up a deep gash on her calf through a slit that he’d cut in her flight suit leg. “Just don’t expect to put any weight on that soon.”

When he had finished, he pulled the blankets back over her, then sat down beside her.

“Pretty good bone-knitting,” she said. “Can you work on the pelvis and spine so I can be ambulatory again?”

Ryion snorted.

“I’m a pilot, not a surgeon.”

She gestured at the general array of bandages.

“You seem to do all right,” she said. “Walking again would be nice.”

“There’s nowhere to go,” Ryion told her. “The bone-knitter isn’t designed for torsos either. It’s calibrated for limbs.”

Jaina glared at him.

“So re-calibrate it.”

Ryion sighed.

“You were more agreeable when you were unconscious,” he said. “Look, broken arms, broken legs, I know how to set and treat those. Even broken ribs—done that enough. Pelvis? Spine? I screw that up, and you never walk normally again, along with. . . everything else down there. It’s not life-threatening yet as long as I keep the wound clean, so it can wait until we can get you to a medi-lab. I hope you have good insurance.”

She ignored his attempt at a joke.

“So you’re not going to try.”

“You’re not in a position to argue,” he informed her. “Just lie back and wait.”

Jaina laid her head back on the crude pillow in a huff. Waiting was not one of her favorite activities and she’d never managed to fully master the renowned “Jedi patience.”

“I’m sorry,” she told him. “I’m sure you’re doing the best you can.”

“I just wish Akleyn was here,” Ryion muttered.

“Who?”

“Someone I know. A surgeon,” he said shortly, cursing himself for letting names slip out unbidden. “If he was here, you’d probably be bouncing off walls by now.”

He rustled around in the medkit.

“What are you doing?” Jaina asked.

“More intravenous fluids. You’re dehydrated and weak,” Ryion replied. “The fever depleted your strength.”

Hoisting a bag filled with a clear liquid, he connected it into her arm and she felt the fluid flowing into her veins.

“Are you a Jedi?” she asked him.

He smiled mirthlessly.

“That’s a good question,” he said. “If I am a Jedi, I’m not like any Jedi you’ve ever met before.”

That answer did not comfort her one bit.

“Do the Jedi know what happened here?”

Ryion was silent for a minute.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Your friend got away, as did my other two pilots. They made it into hyperspace, but I don’t know if they were able to get past Ariada.”

“Who’s Ariada?” Jaina asked.

He looked down at her with a troubled look on his face, then covered it with a smile.

“That’s enough questions for one day,” he said. “You should rest.”

Jaina tried to concentrate enough to use the Force to put her in a healing trance, but couldn’t manage it due to the throbbing in her head.

“Could you at least put me in a healing trance?” she asked. “I’d do it, but I’m having a hard time focusing.”

“Healing trance?” Ryion asked, then shook his head regretfully. “I’m sorry. I’m not familiar with that technique.”

“Never mind,” Jaina said. “I’ll manage.”

Forcing her way through the waves of pain reverberating through the inside of her head, she gathered as much of the Force to her as she could. As first, she thought the strain was too much, that she couldn’t make it, but at the last instant, Jaina was able to push past the pain and sink into the blissful release of a healing trance, free from the nightmares that had plagued her.


 * Coruscant

“Milya.”

The word caused Selu’s eyes to shoot open as he returned to consciousness. He quickly assessed that he was lying on a bed in the infirmary. As his memory returned, he recalled being knocked out by Cilghal before he could rashly go off to pursue his wife. His eyes narrowed as he saw Cilghal standing over him, with Master Skywalker off to the side. They had purposefully delayed him.

“How do you feel?” the healer asked him.

Selu contemplated the question. All things considered, he felt stronger and the pain in his side had diminished appreciably.

“Much better,” he said.

“Care to try sitting up?” Cilghal asked him. “Just do it slowly.”

“Got it. Slowly,” Selu replied, sitting up.

He did in fact feel much better. Selu gingerly slid off the bed, setting his feet on the ground and standing experimentally. However long he had been out, his condition had improved to the point where standing didn’t require the Force.

“Great,” Selu said as took a couple steps forward without too much difficulty.

His side was still tender and he knew he wouldn’t be up for much of a chase or lightsaber fight in this condition, but he was ambulatory and functional. That was enough. He turned to Cilghal and glared at her.

“Let’s get this clear,” Selu told her menacingly. “It’s not a good idea to stand between me and my wife.”

“Selu!” Luke admonished. “Master Cilghal put you into the healing trance to save you. I know you’re worried about your wife and your friends, but collapsing en route wouldn’t have helped them very much.”

Selu nodded sullenly, having calmed down slightly.

“You’re right,” he said. “But neither does she have the right to disrespect my wishes.”

“It seems we both have much to learn about mutual respect and cooperation,” Cilghal put in diplomatically. “I apologize for overriding your wishes, Master Kraen. You might have been in my care, but you also have the right to make your own decisions.”

Her frank, sincere apology disarmed Selu.

“I apologize for snapping at you, Master Cilghal. I am a guest here, and you have taken excellent care of my wounds—and I repaid it with hostility and distrust. It won’t happen again.”

“The pilots have arrived,” Luke told him. “It took some doing to persuade your pilots that they should land at the Jedi Temple, but Jedi Tainer told them you were here. This way.”

He indicated the way and Selu followed him and Cilghal to a hangar where Zekk, Zeyn, and Qedai were standing by their landed fighters, along with Tyria Sarkin Tainer, Mara Jade Skywalker, and another Rodian Jedi pilot named Toile Senn.

“Glad to see you, Master,” Qedai told him. “There’s trouble on Belsavis.”

“What is it?” Selu asked.

“Ryion’s still there,” Qedai said.

“Explain,” Selu prompted.

“The other Jedi pilot was shot down, and Ryion stayed behind to pull off a rescue attempt,” Qedai told him.

“It should’ve been me,” Zekk interjected. “I was her wingman.”

“No, you did the right thing,” Selu said.

Zekk gave him a disbelieving look.

“How can you say that? Who are you?”

“I’m their leader,” Selu answered, referring to Zeyn and Qedai. “Now let me ask you a question. Do you know who attacked you on Belsavis?”

“No,” Zekk admitted.

“Does your fighter have a survival kit complete with cold-weather gear that can be easily deployed?”

“No,” Zekk said with a frown.

“And do you know how to conceal yourself from visual, infrared, and ultraviolet scanners, as well as from the Force?” Selu inquired patiently.

“No.”

“Then you have no rational reason to think you were more qualified to lead a rescue attempt than the person who can answer ‘yes’ to all three of those questions,” Selu said, turning to Qedai and Zeyn. “Could either of you sense Ryion?”

“He was keeping himself closed down,” Zeyn said. “Based on what we know about StealthXes, we believe our attackers were using the Force to track them, as well as conceal their own identities.”

“We’ve got the telemetry here,” Qedai said, offering Selu a datacard.

“Good work. Where’s Jutka?”

Qedai’s and Zeyn’s faces fell.

“She didn’t make it,” Zeyn admitted.

Selu swore under his breath, though he already suspected as much.

“We have a situation here on the ground,” he said. “The director and the rest of her party are missing.”

Their eyes widened.

“I can’t get in contact with them by any means,” Selu told them gravely. “Finding out what happened to them is priority one for us, and without governmental involvement. Ryion can take care of himself for now.”

“Excuse me,” Luke put in. “But we’re still here. We can help, and so can our friends in the Galactic Alliance. Isn’t that why you came to us?”

“Master Skywalker, we came here to warn you,” Selu said. “We didn’t mean to embroil you in our affairs.”

“If Ariada is a threat to the entire galaxy, then she is a common enemy. It would make sense for us to collaborate,” Luke pointed out.

“Fine,” Selu said. “It’s just hard for me to ask for help finding my wife.”

“Let me contact the Alliance,” Luke offered.

“Master Skywalker, please don’t,” Selu replied. “Then you’d have to explain who she is and what’s she doing here, and let’s just say that’s an unwanted complication. Besides, if word gets out that we’re looking for Milya, it could endanger her when whoever’s holding her and the others finds out.”

“How do you know they’ve been abducted?” Zekk asked.

“It’s the only explanation,” Selu told him. “I didn’t sense their deaths, and they haven’t tried to contact me. Milya can always contact me, and certainly would have tried to do so when I went missing.”

“Missing?” Zeyn asked.

“Let’s just say I was attacked,” Selu answered. “A Herglic, with a pistol. I couldn’t sense him.”

“Do you think he had a ysalamiri?” Zeyn asked, referring to the Force-repelling creatures native to Myrkr.

“It’s likely,” Selu said grimly. “Which means I was targeted. Which means they probably went after Milya and the others as well.”

“Where do we start?” Qedai asked.

“We start at the safe house,” Selu answered. “There should be evidence there.”

“I’d like to detail a couple Jedi to help,” Master Skywalker offered. “We know this planet probably better than your people, and we have our own strengths.”

“I’d appreciate the help,” Selu said. “Although most of your effort should be focused on tracking Ariada. She is the greater danger to the galaxy.”

“If you need any provisions, let Jedi Knight Tainer know. She will be your Jedi back-up,” Luke told Selu. “May the Force be with you.”

“One other thing,” Selu asked the Jedi Master.

“What is it?”

“Do you have any psychometrics?” Selu asked. “It’s always been a rare talent, but it could come in handy.”

“Not many,” Luke said, then he grinned. “But I know a thing or two, and I’d be happy to help.”

Selu gave the man a thankful smile.

“Glad to have you.”


 * Two hours later

Qedai walked nonchalantly up to the hotel where Selu, Milya, Cassi, and Morgedh had booked their room. Master Skywalker walked along beside her. Both were wearing Jedi robes—an idea of Luke’s. They reached the hotel and looked around, but nobody else was in sight. Pausing by the door, they noticed that one side of the building was blackened.

“Looks like there was a fire here,” Luke pointed out.

“I was afraid of that,” Qedai answered. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

They entered and found the concierge, a slender young human man in a bright red vest and white shirt.

“Hello there,” Luke offered.

“Welcome, travelers,” the concierge answered with appropriate enthusiasm.

“We’re looking for some information about a room,” Luke told him.

“I’m sure we’ve got specifically whatever you’re looking for,” the concierge answered.

“I’d like to inquire about Suite 219 please,” Luke told the man. “It has some significance.”

“Really? Why’s that?” the concierge asked conversationally as he pulled up the registry.

Then he glanced at their attire.

“Oh, I get it,” he said with a smile. “Say no more.”

Qedai looked at him quizzically.

“You do?”

“Of course,” he said. “You’re role-playing, and Suite 219 has some special memory for you. Big anniversary? Hot date? Doesn’t matter, I get it.”

Luke shook his head and Qedai looked aghast.

“Try again,” she said coldly. “We’re Jedi Knights.”

“Of course,” he answered placatingly. “And he’s going to show you his lightsaber.”

The man snickered at his own joke. Qedai was about to skewer him with a particularly biting retort, but Luke intervened.

“We really are Jedi,” Luke said mildly. “My name is Luke Skywalker.”

“Of course it is,” the man answered, still looking down at the registry.

Then he looked back up, glancing at Luke until recognition dawned in his face.

“Oh my, it is you,” he said, startled.

Luke smiled and nodded.

“I get that a lot.”

“I am so sorry,” the concierge stammered. “I had no idea that the hero of the Rebellion would be standing in my hotel!”

Luke held up a hand to forestall the babbling.

“So about the suite? My Jedi friend and I are investigating a very serious matter.”

“Of course. Uh, let’s see,” the concierge said. “I’m very sorry, Master Jedi Skywalker, sir. Looks like that suite and several others near it were damaged in a fire three nights ago.”

“Hmm,” Luke replied. “Did Coruscant Security Force investigate?”

“They did,” the concierge said. “But I don’t have access to their report. I think they said it was caused by an improperly stored portable generator that exploded—not our fault, and thankfully nobody was there at the time. However, I can get you another room if you like.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Luke told him. “Do you mind if we look around anyway?”

“Uh, of course,” the concierge told him. “Up on the second floor to the left. Can’t miss it, it’s uh, the one behind the caution tape.”

Luke and Qedai nodded, following the directions until they reached the charred suites.

“How often does that work, announcing yourself like that?” Qedai asked him.

“You’d be surprised,” Luke answered with a chuckle as they entered the suite.

Suite 219 had been burned to the point where the floor and walls were scorched completely black. The flames had seared the outer layer away, and charred furniture was littered across the room in considerable disarray.

“There must have been an explosion of some violence for the furniture to be turned over like this,” Qedai said.

“Not likely,” Luke answered, pointing to the door which was lying in the hallway, blown out of the socket.

“The door’s in the hallway,” Qedai said. “It was blown out by the explosion.”

“Judging by the curling of the metal on this edge, it looks more like it was blown in first, and then rearranged to make us think that,” Luke said. “The explosive blast pattern isn’t near the middle of the door like it should be, but around the edges.”

“You’re right,” Qedai answered, looking around the room. “Judging by the hole in the ceiling where the generator exploded upward, the angle’s wrong for the door.”

Luke pawed around in the remains of the charred suitcases and luggage.

“They’re all empty,” he said. “Nobody brings this many empty suitcases.”

“Correct,” Selu told him through an earpiece comlink. “And we didn’t bring suitcases in this style either. The fire was a cover-up.”

“I’ve got a watcher,” Mara’s voice crackled over the comnet. “He’s watching you two casually from a parked speeder. It’s a Devaronian male, civilian attire.”

“I see him,” Zeyn answered from his perch outside the building.

He and Doran Tainer were dressed like businessmen, with long coats, hats, and data goggles obscuring their features. Strolling down the lane with datapads in hand, they appeared to be deeply engrossed in their conversation.

“His body language suggests he’s not alone,” Zeyn muttered into his comlink.

“That doesn’t make any sense, he’s the only one in the speeder,” Mara retorted.

“It does if the other two are cloaked,” Selu said. “They could be wearing personal invisibility shields.”

Mara whistled.

“I didn’t even think those were available to anyone but upper-tier criminal organizations.”

“You’d be surprised,” Selu said with a wry smile.

Luke knelt down in the charred suite, pressing his hand against the ground. A vision of a woman falling flashed into his mind, and he walked around, touching different walls. He felt what would have been the front face of the door, and a vision of explosives being planted by gloved hands appeared in his mind’s eye. He kept up his examination for some time, then turned to Qedai and shook his head sadly.

“Nothing here, I’m afraid,” he told her. “Sorry, but there’s just nothing to see.”

“I understand,” she said glumly. “We’ll have to find another lead elsewhere.”

The two departed, leaving by the way they had come and heading back to the Jedi Temple. Zeyn, Doran, Mara, Tyria, and Selu joined them separately over the next hour.

“Did you get him?” Luke asked.

“Yes,” Selu told him. “I was able to approach their vehicle while concealed and drop the tracer on it. They won’t be expecting that, and I suspect they’ll move or rotate in the next few hours.”

“Good work,” Luke answered.

“Now, what did you see?” Selu inquired. “Did the psychometry give you any hints?”

“There was an attack,” Luke told him. “The attackers were well-equipped and hit from multiple angles. They blew the door with explosives.”

Selu had an uncomfortable feeling about the methodology he was seeing here. It was all a little too familiar. He glanced at Zeyn.

“Sound familiar?”

“YGI methodology,” Zeyn confirmed.

“Who?” Mara asked over the comnet.

“Yanibar Guard Intelligence,” Selu explained. “Ariada’s well-versed in their methods. Something like this would definitely be in her repertoire.”

“From the footage I saw, the detail work was handled pretty well,” she said. “Not perfect, but pretty close.”

Selu smirked.

“There’s a reason you haven’t heard of YGI until now,” he offered.

“We’ve got something,” Tyria announced where she was monitoring the datapad. “The speeder’s moving.”

“Track it,” Mara ordered quickly.

An hour later, the speeder stopped at an abandoned warehouse some distance away. Thanks to a friend of Tyria’s they were able to get surreptitious orbital satellite surveillance of the area. It was a sizeable building, large enough to hold well over a two dozen people and their gear. It had also been thermally lined so they couldn’t see how many people were inside the structure.

“Clever girl,” Selu muttered. “She’s masked the thermal signature of the building so we can’t see how many are in there.”

“Well, we know where they are,” Mara said. “I doubt they’re expecting us, but they will be alert.”

“We can take them,” Selu said. “Gear up.”


 * One hour later

Selu watched on the datapad as Tyria’s speeder pulled around the warehouse.

“Bad news,” she said.

“What is it?”

“The building isn’t drawing from external power. The thermal shielding extends to the walls and the floor as well. I see proximity sensors and recessed holocams with overlapping coverage on the exterior walls and roof. There’s some kind of rotating jamming field around the building also, so no eavesdropping on comms unless we know the frequency modulator algorithm.”

“It gets better,” Mara put in. “The building has a solid foundation, three solid meters of permacrete. No getting through that without some noise.”

“Combined with the total inability to sense anything inside the building and the distinct possibility that the guards are using some kind of optical camouflage to hide their movements, that adds up to one nasty fortress,” Zeyn concluded.

“That’s a lot of precautions for a group that seems to be operating like they wouldn’t get caught,” Qedai observed. “They’re either highly paranoid or they’re expecting company.”

“It could be a trap,” Luke suggested.

Selu crossed his arms as he stared at the schematic of the building.

“I’d consider trying to infiltrate some kind of spy droid through the water lines or air vents, but judging by the level of precautions these people are taking, they’d notice it.”

He glared at the datapad again.

“This place is a tactical nightmare,” he said. “And we can’t do a soft approach because it’d probably just tip them off—nobody in their right mind should approach this building. A hard approach is suicide for the prisoners unless we know where they are and what are the defenses.”

“We need to know more about what’s going on in there,” Qedai pointed out. “We don’t even know who these attackers are.”

“I know,” Selu said. “We can’t just go in there blind, but we can’t wait too long either.”

He bit a lip as he focused.

“What we need is inside information.”

“I have an idea,” Tyria suggested.

“Go ahead.”

“Laser microphone. We set them up and point them at windows, then wait for the information to come to us.”

“Good idea, do it,” Selu said hopefully.

He was not so enthusiastic when the next day, there was still no information from the mics other than the sound of equipment and crates moving around. Not a single word was spoken.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Tyria remarked. “Unless they’re not talking.”

“Could it be droids?” Doran wondered. “Droids wouldn’t need to talk; they could communicate via burst transmissions, hiding behind the jamming field.”

“Or people in armored suits,” Luke said, recalling his psychometric visions.

“That gives us something,” Selu responded. “We’re sure they’re not using just droids based on the speeder with at least one or two people inside it, but if they are using a closed-comms system, that gives us information. Let me see the floorplan again.”

Selu pored over the schematic, noting that the warehouse had a large open area with three stories of offices on the other end. Aside from a few closets, the other side the warehouse was open area.

“All right, so the hostages won’t be on the comm net—the takers won’t want them hearing too much on their operations. That means they’re being held in area away from the windows since we haven’t heard them on the laser mics. Let’s narrow it down.”

Selu pulled up the schematic onto the holoprojector.

“The closets off of the main area are out,” he said. “They’re on the exterior wall and most of them have windows.”

“The two that don’t contain windows have trash chutes,” Zeyn reported. “Those are possible locations.”

“True,” Selu admitted, circling them.

“Now, what about the rest of the offices and rooms on the administrative side of the building?”

Selu, Zeyn, Qedai, Mara, and Tyria moved through the schematic, eliminating the rooms that had windows. However, that still left sixteen rooms that were possibilities.

“That’s too many,” Selu informed them. “We can’t hit sixteen rooms simultaneously.”

“We need more intelligence then,” Mara said. “Any way to get someone inside?”

“Not without them suspecting us,” Zeyn muttered.

“I’ve got something,” Tyria’s son Doran offered from the laser mic.

“What is it?” Selu asked eagerly.

“I heard the sound of a door opening. After that, I picked up some faint noise, someone talking. It’s going to need some scrubbing to get anything understandable out of it.”

“Send it back to the Jedi Temple,” Luke started.

“Wait,” Selu cautioned. “If I was them, I’d be monitoring communications in the area. Let’s keep it local for now. Do what you can with it, Doran.”

An hour of impatient waiting later, Doran was finished.

“Two words from one voice, one words from another voice, then the door closes and we lose the signal. First voice, male, sounds filtered: ‘Refresher break.’ Second voice, female: ‘Thank.’”

“Good work, Doran,” Selu said, clapping on the young man on his shoulder.

He turned back to the schematic, but Mara was ahead of him.

“We can now eliminate the other two closets and ten of the other offices,” Mara said. “They’re giving them access to the refresher, and since we haven’t heard anything like that from the laser mics, they’re in the administrative wing.”

Selu outlined the refresher stations on the schematic.

“Tactically, it makes sense to keep the prisoners separate since they don’t appear to be short on manpower or space, but they also don’t want to move them around too much throughout the day and expose their operations. Even blindfolded, the prisoners could still hear something, and we know they can hear since the woman responded to the guard. That means the rooms aren’t too far away from the refresher stations.”

“We’re talking three levels here,” Mara said.

“But that leaves only eight possible rooms where they could be holding the hostages—rooms that don’t have windows and are reasonably close to the refresher.”

“Don’t forget to factor in the door we heard,” Tyria said. “Judging by the mic we used, we know what door was opened when the conversation filtered through the hallway. We can scrub the recording for Doppler shift and gauge how far away it was.”

“That puts the room here,” Mara said, circling the graphic on the holoprojection of the schematic. “One prisoner is being held here, a woman.”

“We’ve narrowed it down enough,” Selu said. “Tonight, we breach.”

“Are you sure?” Luke asked. “We don’t know enough yet.”

“We know enough,” Selu answered. “Speeder traffic at the sight has been slowly increasing. They’re up to something.”


 * That evening

Selu strapped on the black tactical vest, readying the blaster carbine he’d been supplied with. The New Jedi Order had provided him with the supplies since his had gone missing in the attack on the hotel. He was surprised to find that they had military equipment, including blasters, in ready supply—such things had been discouraged in the old Jedi Order. Behind him, Qedai and Zeyn were stacked up in the airspeeder. He clipped on the infrared strobe that would identify him as a friendly and prepared to head out. With the ysalamiri bubble encasing the building, there would be no way to use the Force inside, so they would have to rely on more conventional tools. Selu gave a hand signal and they advanced to the rendezvous point.

Teams of Jedi equipped with blasters and tactical vests along their lightsabers were already surrounding the compound in unmarked vehicles, closing in while maintaining radio silence, waiting for the signal. Selu checked his chrono. They would reach the drop site in one minute. At one minute, five seconds, they would land on the roof, carve a hole in it, and drop down. At one minute, ten seconds, the other Jedi teams would burst in from the entries closest to the hostages while other teams provided containment and reinforcement. If the Force was with them, the whole thing would be done quickly, quietly, and with minimal loss of life.

A wave of anxiety welled up in his gut and Selu wondered if he had made the right choice. His rescue mission seemed well-planned, but Ariada had been ahead of them every step of the way. Was he dooming himself, Luke’s Jedi, or the prisoners to death? Selu shook his head, trying to clear it. He needed focus—he was getting too old for this.

“Check me,” he said to Qedai. “Gear look good?”

Qedai checked the backpack that Selu was wearing, then ran down a mental checklist of the gear he was supposed to be wearing.

“Looks good, sir,” she replied.

“Elite, do you think this is the right call?” he asked her in a quiet whisper.

She gave him a confused look for a minute, then nodded.

“Yes, sir,” she told him. “I’d make the same decision.”

“Even if Akleyn was the hostage?” Selu inquired, referring to her husband, his nephew.

“Sir, if Akleyn was in there, I’d insist on being the first one in, just like you are.”

“I know,” Selu said. “But it’s still risky. A lot of things have to go right, and we won’t have the Force.”

“Plus side on that, if Ariada’s inside, she won’t either, and that means she can’t sense us coming,” Qedai told him.

“I hope you’re right,” Selu said as they approached the drop point.

This was it. He could either abort now and regroup. Selu thought of Milya, the love of his life, trapped inside along with his sister-in-law Cassi and the loyal Noghri warrior Morgedh clan Kel’nerh. Did she expect that he was coming for her? Would this decision result in their deaths?

“Gundark Two, in position,” he heard the pilot tell him. “Waiting go/no-go.”

Selu asked himself what Milya would have done if their positions were reversed. Silently, he closed his eyes and clenched his fist. Then he made the call.

“We are go,” Selu said. “Execute as planned.”

He glanced at his chrono.

“Gundark Two here, drop when ready.”

The airspeeder bearing them swooped in closer, tossing out black ropes out of the side. Selu leaned out and rolled an EMP grenade down ahead of them. The weapon detonated in a small fizzle, clearing the landing zone of sensors temporarily.

“Go! Go! Go!” Selu called to Zeyn and Qedai, leaping from the airspeeder to rappel down onto the roof.

Brandishing his lightsaber, he cut a hole in the roof after attaching a piton into the metal disc to keep it from falling down with a noise. Hauling the metal plate he’d carved out of the way, he set it aside and dropped down into the warehouse, blaster up and tracking. Zeyn and Qedai followed behind him. They were in a darkened hallway, illuminated only by the glow of the emergency exit lighting at one end. It was deadly quiet and nearly pitch-black.

Selu’s blaster barrel tracked left and right, sweeping the hallway as they advanced, Zeyn backing him up and Qedai watching their rear. Their job was to sweep the upper floor and then secure the balcony overlooking the main floor. Now that they were inside the building, they could use thermal vision and Selu was grateful for the YGI-issue headsets they were provided with, allowing them to check the rooms on the top floor for people. He heard nothing but the light footfall of his team and the muted sound of his breathing. Perhaps there was nobody on the top floor, and he would be able to secure the balcony easily, splitting the building in half.

He was wrong.

From the end of the hallway, two blaster rifles opened up on them with deadly accuracy, and if Selu hadn’t also been wearing the personal shield generator that was standard issue to Yanibar Guard infantry and commandos, he would have been dead on the spot. The furious violet blasterfire splattered off his shield as he quickly ducked back into a doorway and returned fire. Qedai and Zeyn followed suit, finding cover and trading shots. The return fire was disciplined and accurate, but their foes, which had previously been invisible, seemed to also have personal shields of their own. Selu swore under his breath. To his knowledge, only the Yanibar Guard had the technology to feature both personal cloaking and shielding in their most advanced battlesuits. He hadn’t realized that Ariada had stolen that technology as well—she was no infantryman.

Selu squeezed the trigger on his blaster rifle, sending a spray of blasts into one of the armored figures, who remained upright. To his horror, the man fired again, but not a blaster. A small round sphere was explosively propelled at them and without the Force, Selu was powerless to bat it away. The miniature concussion grenade exploded in the midst of him, Zeyn, and Qedai, knocking them all to the floor.

When he awoke, his ears were ringing and he could hear garbled transmission over the commnet.

“We’re under fire! Looks like droids and soldiers.”

“Watch the sniper, grid Aleph Six!”

More of Selu’s senses came to him and he realized he was being dragged across the floor by two fully-armored figures while a third pointed a blaster pistol at him. Finally, they set him down. In the background, he could hear the sounds of battle, the humming of lightsabers and the report of blasters reinforced by the whump of grenades.

“Wake up,” one of them said, kicking him with a boot. “Sudden moves are not your friend.”

Selu stirred and sat up slowly, making sure his hands were visible. He was on the main floor of the warehouse, surrounded by equipment. One of the armored figures was standing over him, accompanied by the guard. The first one handed him his comlink.

“Right now, your other teams are being engaged. None of them have made it inside yet, delayed by the perimeter defenses and minefields. You are a prisoner and so is the rest of your team. Call off the attack.”

The person’s voice was distorted, filtered through the speaker. Selu recognized his arms and armor as Kraechar Arms manufacture. Selu glared back at the armored warrior in front of him.

“Call off the attack, before I have to hurt someone,” the leader warned him. “Don’t make me start with one of the women.”

The threat was enough to give Selu pause. He’d already gambled once and lost—he couldn’t risk the bluff. He reached for the comlink.

“All right,” he said. “This is Lead. All units, break off. Repeat, break off. Fall back and regroup.”

He clenched his teeth bitterly in defeat. He’d failed Milya, Cassi, and Morgedh.

“That was a smart move, Master Kraen,” the figure told him. “Your allies are standing down.”

Selu nodded slowly, then he noticed something on the soldier’s armplate and helmet. The insignia was that of the Yanibar Guard Army. He looked around to see several other similarly-attired soldiers also sporting the YGA insignia. Their weapons, armor, and even their supply containers were the kind employed by YGA, and their methods had recalled tactics used by YGI and YGA. Surely Ariada hadn’t managed to steal or counterfeit enough of their materiel to supply and train a small army of mercenaries?

“Get up,” the speaker instructed Selu.

“I want to speak to your leader,” Selu informed the soldier.

“You’ll get your chance,” he was told.

Five minutes later, an armored figure approached.

“Master Kraen, you and your party are hereby placed under arrest in accordance with Council Directive 16558,” the armored person told him. “You will be conveyed immediately back to Yanibar for debriefing.”

Selu’s eyes widened in shock. This wasn’t possible! They hadn’t been attacked by Ariada’s private army. The people that had captured Milya, Cassi, and Morgedh, along with him, Zeyn, and Qedai were Yanibar Guardsmen, mostly likely elite commandos of some kind. That explained the equipment, tactics, and methods. It also explained why they had been waiting for them at this veritable fortress—the Guardsmen had known Selu well enough to know that he would be coming for them and had set up a trap.

“Nice trap you have here. . . major,” Selu guessed. “Or is it colonel?”

“My orders are to have minimal contact with you until you return to Yanibar,” the armored individual said stiffly. “I intend to carry out those orders.”

“What is Council Directive 16558?” Selu asked. “If I am under arrest, I have the right to know the charges.”

“Council Directive 16558 revokes the Council membership of yourself, Morgedh clan Kel’nerh, and Milya Tayrce Kraen. It also declares you and your party to be enemies of the refuge and security risks to be apprehended with all necessary force. You retain all rights accorded a citizen of the refuge, including the right to a trial, provided you can be returned to Yanibar without risking the safety of the refuge.”

“A refuge that will be wiped out in less than six months,” Selu pointed out. “I want to speak to the Council.”

“You no longer have that privilege,” he was told.

Selu’s eyes narrowed.

“You listen to me, soldier,” he said. “I am a founding member of the refuge and the Council. I have defended the Force exiles with every breath of my being for the last fifty-four years, and I have raised others to do the same. Do not deny me this now.”

“I’m sorry, Master Kraen, but you broke the chain of command. I no longer accept orders from you.”

“No, I’m the sorry one,” Selu said. “For promoting your ass up to a position where it clearly doesn’t belong.”

“I’m just carrying out my orders.”

“I’m sure,” Selu answered tartly. “I already know you’re going to contact your superiors and possibly even the Council to inform them that you captured us successfully. All I’m asking is to speak with them when you do so.”

“The Council is only interested in getting you back to Yanibar.”

“You do not speak for the Council, soldier,” Selu warned him.

“Neither do you,” came the reply.

“That is an entirely different subject,” Selu answered him. “Before I left, I invoked the Emergency Defense Authority for myself and my party, which allows us considerable legal freedom in what we can do in time of crisis.”

“Master Kraen, I was briefed. The Emergency Defense Authority can be revoked by a supermajority vote of the Council, which was included in Directive 16558.”

“The Emergency Defense Authority can only be revoked if a majority of the councilors from defense are able to vote on the matter. Since three of us have been absent, that’s simply not possible. Look it up if you don’t believe me. Did the Council choose a new Supreme Commander, a new Director of Intelligence, and a new Master Elite Guardian?”

The soldier stiffened.

“Did they?” Selu demanded.

“No,” the soldier replied. “Only the Supreme Commander can submit the other two appointments, and the Council was still deliberating on that matter when we left.”

“And that’s why you’re a commando, not a lawyer,” Selu countered. “Congratulations, you just assaulted and impeded five members of the Yanibar Guard operating under the Emergency Defense Authority.”

The commando stiffened.

“You’ll get to speak with the Council,” he said abruptly. “They’ll sort this out.”

Within ten minutes, Selu was looking at a holoprojector showing the remaining fourteen members of the Council.

“You have no right to speak to us unless it is in a trial for treason!” Chairman Asheram thundered as soon as Selu’s face came into view.

The Rodian’s large black eyes were bulging to even greater size with anger.

“On the contrary, Asheram,” Selu said, his voice laced with iron. “It is you who lacks a legal foot to stand on. Your revoking of the Emergency Defense Authority I laid down was illegal—you lacked the proper quorum from defense.”

“A minor technicality,” Asheram replied. “The Council condemns your actions as adverse to the security of this refuge.”

Selu’s eyes glinted.

“I was shot on your minor technicality,” he said. “Three other members of my party were attacked and captured on your minor technicality.”

“You brought that upon yourself.”

“For trying to stop a rogue agent who is now spreading havoc and death to the greater galaxy, that’s my reward?” Selu demanded.

“For defying the wishes of this Council,” Asheram replied.

“From a legal standpoint, you don’t have a chance, Asheram,” Selu warned him. “Not only will the courts side against you, just wait until the public finds out about how you had Selu Kraen shot.”

“Are you threatening the Council?” Asheram demanded.

“Absolutely not,” Selu said. “You have two choices. Either you endorse my authority retroactively and don’t challenge my Emergency Defense Authority until its ninety day limit is exceeded, or you will face such a firestorm of criticism not only from the courts of law, but from the courts of public opinion that you’ll be forced to resign in disgrace.”

“The third choice is that I have you tried for treason in a military court,” Asheram insisted. “We have evidence of you collaborating with non-refuge organizations.”

“Which is allowed under the Emergency Defense Authority,” Selu replied. “We retroactively applied it to the Aayla Secura’s captain when he was forced to contact a smuggling vessel to transmit a distress signal after a collision with a comet.”

“We’ll see about that,” Asheram sneered. “Colonel, bring out the other two ex-Councilors. We’re about to get our defense quorum.”

The colonel made no acknowledgment that he had received the order.

“Colonel, I gave you an order,” Asheram said.

“He doesn’t take orders from you,” Selu informed the Rodian councilor. “He takes them from me.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Asheram replied. “With you here, we have the quorum already.”

“Go ahead, call the vote,” Selu told him. “Just remember this: I claimed my Emergency Defense Authority to stop someone who’s killed several thousand people on three planets, has attempted to assassinate the Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance, and attempted to murder members of the New Jedi Order. So before you condemn me, you’d better consider the implications of calling off the hunt for Ariada—it could lead to war with the Galactic Alliance and the Jedi if they don’t believe she’s gone rogue.”

Asheram stopped.

“You’re joking.”

“Do I look like I’m in a joking mood?” Selu asked sarcastically. “This is the threat that Ariada poses, not only to us, but to the galaxy at large. She is a clear and present danger to this refuge, and historically, considerable discretion has been afforded to the Yanibar Guard to handle such threats. So I ask the Councilors to remember that when you vote, remember that by voting to revoke the Emergency Defense Authority, you are claiming that Ariada Cerulaen does not endanger this refuge. Right now, the Jedi Order has accepted our story in good faith, that Ariada is a common enemy. If we abandon the pursuit, they may not be so convinced of our sincerity.”

“An eventuality which never would have happened if you hadn’t revealed the existence of this refuge to them!” Asheram pointed out.

“Even if I hadn’t done so, Ariada could have easily implicated us, and we’d have five hundred GA warships blockading us within two weeks. Everything I have done has been for the benefit and safety of this refuge. Allowing Ariada to strike unchecked risks galactic retribution on us for her crimes. Cooperation was the best solution—and it was not a decision I made lightly,” Selu replied. “Go ahead, Asheram. Call your vote.”

Ten minutes later, Selu had his result. Casting Morgedh’s and Milya’s votes by proxy, the motion to revoke his Emergency Defense Authority failed by a vote of nine to eight—a narrow victory, but Selu accepted it. He had also won direct command of all Yanibar Guard assets sent to apprehend him and his party under his EDA, but nothing else.

He turned back to the colonel in charge.

“Sir, I believe that myself and the troops under my command owe you an apology,” the colonel said.

“Identify yourself,” Selu told him.

“Colonel Dristaff.”

“Cresh Squad,” Selu realized aloud, referring to the Yanibar Guard’s most renowned fighting unit that wasn’t composed of Force-users. “I should have suspected as much.”

“Sir, we were never comfortable with our orders—but we carried them out. We obey the Council.”

“I understand,” Selu said. “But if anyone had been killed tonight, you would not have found me so understanding. I’m invoking my Emergency Defense Authority to include all the Yanibar Guard assets in the Coruscant system. Do you have a problem with that?”

“No, sir,” Colonel Dristaff replied adamantly.

“Good,” Selu said. “I want you to assemble a collection of our assets in theater and have a tactical command console ready for me in an hour. I want all the latest intelligence briefs on Ariada Cerulaen. I want a comlink line to the outside. I want my party released and their authority reinstated. No more chain-of-command snafus. Last of all, I want to see my wife, Cassi, and Morgedh. Now.”

“Yes, sir,” Colonel Dristaff replied.

Within minutes, Selu’s orders were carried out. He was able to assure Master Skywalker that everything was fine and that he would reconvene with them in the morning. One of the YGA commandos delivered him a datapad loaded with information for his perusal. However, Selu lost interest in those things when they marched Cassi, Morgedh, and Milya out. They had been blindfolded and their hands and legs secured in loose binders.

“Get those off of them,” Selu snapped.

“Selu!” Milya exclaimed as she heard his voice.

“That’s right,” Selu answered as her blindfold and binders were removed.

She half-shuffled, half-ran over to him and threw herself into his waiting arms, along with a hundred questions all at once.

“How did you get here? How did you get us released? Where did you go?”

“Shhh,” Selu shushed her as he nestled his chin in her hair. “Time for questions later, love. Everything’s fine now.”

“I love you,” Milya told him, her eyes squeezed shut as she tried not to cry.

“I love you too,” Selu answered. “I needed you.”

He held her back so she could look in his eyes.

“I’ve taken command of the situation,” he told her. “We’re going to fix this. All of it.”

Selu led Milya over to a stack of crates in the warehouse, bidding her to sit down.

“What happened?” he asked.

“They hit us in the night,” Milya answered. “It was a surprise assault, from multiple angles—and we didn’t sense them coming.”

“There were plenty of ysalamiri here,” Selu told her. “They sent someone after me too. What kind of weapons did they use?”

“Stun bolts, stun grenades, breaching charges,” Milya answered. “I got hit by the door when they blew it in. Cassi and Morgedh were stunned.”

“Are you hurt?” Selu asked, alarmed.

“Not too much,” Milya answered evasively. “Cracked some ribs, fair share of bruises.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Selu told, running his hands over her ribs.

“Selu! Not in public!” Milya rebuked him, smacking his fingers away lightly.

Selu gave her a sly smile.

“Just making sure nothing was damaged.”

“I told you, I’m fine,” Milya replied. “The medics treated our injuries and were more or less civilized about the whole affair. How about you?”

“I survived,” Selu replied evasively.

“Survived what?” Milya probed.

She wasn’t going to let the matter drop.

“No recriminations,” Selu warned her. “It’s outside the scope of your authority.”

Milya planted her hands on her hips.

“Selu, you’re worse than Ryion when he was a child. Tell me what the kriff happened.”

He winced.

“I got shot. S-5S pistol slug through the torso.”

Milya was clearly horrified.

“They could’ve killed you!” she snapped. “Who did it?”

“They were acting on orders,” Selu replied, attempting to mollify her. “I survived and was able to bring help. Let it go.”

“Acting on orders?” Milya said. “Is that supposed to make me feel better? The clones who carried out Order 66 were acting on orders, Selu!”

The suddenly aggrieved and hurt look on his face told her that that last remark had gone too far—too personal.

“I know,” Selu answered quietly. “I’m just relieved you three weren’t seriously hurt.”

“I can’t believe the Yanibar Guard activated contingency plans meant to stop darksiders for us against us!” Milya fumed.

“We did defy the Council,” Selu told her reasonably. “For all they knew, we’d gone rogue.”

“Listen to yourself, Selu,” Milya reproved him. “The idea that the four of us would go rogue is absolutely ludicrous. We should be beyond reproach.”

“Nobody should be beyond reproach,” Selu said. “I’m not going to let the Council off the hook for this, but the YG who carried out their orders were misled.”

“You’re more forgiving than I am,” Milya replied.

“I’m willing to be when you, Cassi, and Morgedh are safe, and not in the hands of Ariada,” Selu assuaged.

“Selu, please,” Milya answered. “There’s no way Ariada would go after Morgedh and I together.”

“Maybe,” Selu said, not convinced. “Also, we do have Yanibar Guard support now.”

“If we can trust them,” Milya countered. “I have three cracked ribs that are evidence to the contrary.”

Selu was about to retort when Cassi walked up.

“Reunited for less than an hour and already arguing,” she said. “Sounds like the Selu and Milya I know are back.”

“We were not arguing,” Milya answered. “It was a. . . heated discussion.”

“But how are you?” Selu asked, wanting to divert attention from their “heated discussion.”

“I’m fine. Still a little stiff, but I can’t complain. Hard to believe we were taken prisoner by the Yanibar Guard.”

“Tell me about it,” Milya retorted.

“That’s all sorted out now,” Selu said. “I just talked to Grand Master Skywalker, and we’ll meet with him in the morning.”

“So you were able to make contact with the Jedi Order,” Cassi replied. “That’s good.”

“Yes, and it was. . . easier than I thought it would be,” Selu answered. “It feels like a great burden has been removed—and between Ariada and the Council, I don’t need any more of those.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Cassi answered.

“By the way,” Selu remarked. “I saw one of your old friends at the Jedi Temple—do you remember Tyria Sarkin Tainer?”

“Of course,” Cassi exclaimed. “Is she a full Jedi now?”

“She is,” Selu confirmed. “She saved my life. She’ll probably be with Master Skywalker tomorrow.”

“Oh good,” Cassi replied. “I could use her help. I wasn’t able to find much about Doctor Volyken’s death—it seemed like the details had been intentionally obscured. She might still have contacts in Galactic Alliance Intelligence that could help.”

“You’re welcome to come along and ask,” Selu told her. “For now, I think we’ve had a long day. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, so let’s try and get some rest.”

“Indeed,” Milya replied. “Though you and I have some unfinished business.”

“I can’t wait,” Selu quipped. “I’ll see to it that we have more comfortable quarters arranged.”

Cassi and Milya nodded and headed back towards the offices. Selu followed after a brief conversation with the commanding officer before he found Morgedh standing quietly by the entrance to the office compartment.

“How are you?” Selu asked him.

“Unhurt, but troubled,” the Noghri answered. “This turning of allies against each other—this exactly what Ariada would have wanted. She is our common enemy, yet how much has this distracted both us and the Yanibar Guard contingent from our true enemy?”

“And the Jedi Order as well,” Selu replied. “You’re right, old friend.”

“I fear the worst,” Morgedh told him. “Who knows what new evil she will have set in motion while we were occupied here?”

Selu did not have an answer to that question, but the thought troubled him enough that he gave no reply. They would find out soon enough.