Abeloth's Planet; 44 ABY
The assault pinnace RudeAwakening sat at the far end of the courtyard, hissing and popping as the heat of its fiery descent dissipated into the humid jungle air. Its hull was carbon-scorched and dented, and several deep pits went down through the thick battle armor all the way to the orange circle of an emergency hull patch. A dark rectangle separated from the pinnace's battered hull and began to descend, slowly folding out into a boarding ramp. A slender female figure appeared in the opening at the top. Her brown hair was pulled into a tight bun, her eyes were sunken with exhaustion, and she had furrow lines as deep as canyons in her brow. She was dressed in a combat vac suit and holding her deactivated lightsaber in one hand, and the entire front panel of her suit was smeared in red, frothy blood.
Jaina Solo, newly appointed Jedi Master, scanned the beach for her cousin and the Sith traitor, but it was barren and empty. What little plant matter on it seemed to be already decaying, a good sign, given the link to Abeloth. Luke had been seriously wounded in his time Beyond Shadows, but she needed to complete the mission they came here for, rescuing Ben. Reaching out though the Force, she felt a swell of power inland, somewhere off to the right. It was a strange mixture of light and dark, intertwine, but distinctly separate.
Drawing her lightsaber, though keeping it unlit, Jaina made her way closer to the source of the disturbance. As she made her way through the forest, plants she'd been told were lethal seemed to be turning a waxy yellow. A pale green liquid bled from within. They all appeared to be dying.
The forest receded as she made her way to the stone courtyard. Her uncle had described many of the places he and Ben had visited, both on the planet itself and from Beyond Shadows. The crumbling expanse housed a tall onyx basin in the center, crowning an ascension of steps. Jaina recognized it as the Font of Power. By all accounts a fight had transpired here, debris had been disturbed and scorch marks marred the marble columns. The remains of severed tentacles scattered the landscape, pale lavender in color implied that Abeloth had continue to utilize the Keshiri host, Korelei, instead of taking a new one. The remnant of a fresh coating of sulfurous dust outlined footprints away from the recess. Dried blood, bluish in color spattered the ground.
Jaina stretched out again, still feeling the vortex of energy still further along, in the direction the markings indicated. Unlike the journey from the beach, the part of the jungle was devastated. Vines were severed and burnt. Trees toppled and upturned. Whatever had happened, it left a trail of destruction that anyone could follow. At the center of it all lay Abeloth.
The ground had been depressed into a concave circle, as if a massive amount of force had been brought to bear on the point. Singed edges belied a Force Lightning assault. In the center of it all lay the huddled mass of flesh and bone. Tentacles curled around the corpse as if in defense. The face, once housing a grin of needle-sharp teeth had been cracked in two, leaving the lower jaw at a precarious angle. The eyes were completely black, with no trace of the pinpricks of light that Jaina knew to be the eyes of Abeloth. Whatever had happened, another of her avatars had been slain.
She continued to follow the trail through the underbrush, this area lacked the slash and burn feel of the battle zone, but Jaina could find no carnivorous plant lining the path. She stumbled upon a cavern, this one quite similar to the Font of Power, paved in similar stonework, but far larger. With enough open area to house a small space yacht, it was a sight to behold. The far end of the cavern held a white marble pool. Twice as long in length as width, filled with crystal clear water. As she got closer to the threshold, she saw them.
Ben and Vestara lay at the edge of the pool. Their cloths appeared dry, but they seemed to be laying as if they crawled out of the body of liquid. Jaina ran up to them, checking as she went for any signs of an ambush. Sensing none, she knelt beside Ben and checked his pulse. It was rapid, but steady. Doing the same to Vestara and getting the same result, Jaina focused on seeing them through the Force. The swirl of energy came from them. Ben radiated light, while Vestara the dark. It mixed and twisted like cream poured into caf. A kaleidoscope of energy, but each separate, nothing neutral.
Deciding that Jaina needed to bring them both back, but unable to take both at once, she gathered foliage from the forest to hide Ben while she took Vestara. Something inside Jaina resisted and longed to take her cousin first, to make sure he got medical attention as soon as possible, but the pragmatic side argued that Vestara was the flight risk and needed to be confined immediately. Jaina fastened stun cuffs on the girl's wrists and slung the body over her shoulder. Before making her trek back to the Rude Awakening, Jaina unclipped a spare comlink and set it beside Ben, if he awoke before she got back.
She made record time back to the pinnace. Luke was still secured in the ten-bunk medical bay along the cabin's back wall. The breathing tube, half a dozen IV tubes, and bandages made him a sorry sight. As soon as she entered, the Emdee droid lurched forward and blocked her entrance.
"Mask yourself," it said in a brisk, no-nonsense manner before noticing that Jaina was carrying a body with her and motioned to an empty bunk near the front of the cabin.
"This one is a prisoner," Jaina said, it would be best to avoid any misunderstandings, "believe nothing she says and don't remove the cuffs."
Without waiting for the military-esque acknowledgement she knew would come, Jaina jogged out of the ship after her cousin.
A short time later, she returned with a still unconscious Ben Skywalker. The Emdee put him in another empty bunk and began a preliminary triage that was no doubt what comprised it's time with Vestara before she had gotten back. Finding only minor injuries and a few bruised ribs, the medical droid announced that they were both stable and ready to depart.
After checking the hull integrity, just to be sure that Ship hadn't stranded them in the Maw, the assault ship rose from the prison planet swiftly into the atmosphere. Still on the lookout for the Meditation Sphere, Jaina piloted a course out of the Maw. Practically second nature to her, she needed little conscious thought to steer the ship or sense an attack, Jaina turned her thoughts to the medical bay. Not only was Luke Skywalker in grave condition, somehow taking physical injuries from his battle in Beyond Shadows, but Ben seemed to be in a coma. Unsure how to react to Vestara, given the recent light of her true loyalties and leading an attack on her parents and Allana, she just hoped everyone would get through this. She had already lost so many family members to crises that she wasn't sure if she could bear the loss of Luke and Ben, too.
Jedi Temple, Shedu Maad; 44 ABY
Luke had spent weeks recovering from his duel with Abeloth and the Sith Stranger in Beyond Shadows. His injuries had been severe, there had been some talk about him not making it through. Still, despite the prognosis, he had woken up to the faces of Han, Leia, Allana, and Jaina. The simultaneous attack on Abeloth had apparently been successful. Saba had destroyed the manifestation that had taken over the Temple computer core, he and the Stranger had taken care of the form in Beyond Shadows, and apparently Ben ad Vestara had destroyed the one that had taken them captive. Unfortunately, something had happened to Vestara and his son on that planet. They were found unconscious by the Pool of Knowledge. Though Luke had healed from his fight, neither had awoken from their own ordeal.
Standing silently beside his son's hospital bed, Luke could feel the pulses of energy radiating from his son. Like Jaina, Luke had immediately sense the change in the auras of Ben and Vestara. Ben's had always been a subdued presence, not one that exuded his true abilities, but now it seemed to shine, a strength that seemed multiplied from before.
Vestara's change had be just as vast, but not nearly as comforting. She had always hidden her own presence before, a vestige of her Sith upbringing, but now dripped with dark power. The Council had been unsure as to what they should do about her. Jysella had seen her running from the Tribe before she led the assault on the Millennium Falcon, some of the masters had been loath to jump to conclusions until they could question her. What shred of doubt regarding her loyalties, however, was gone when they sensed the strength of the dark side around her.
When she had been brought back, the masters had imprisoned her in a ysalamiri-lined cell, shackled to her own hospital bed. Luke had visited her after he had seen his son and had asked for the Force-repellant creatures be removed so he could sense the change for himself. Once they had, Luke had sensed a darkness of such strength that he had not encountered anything like it since Palpatine. It was so concentrated that it seemed to leech his own strength, not as a willful effort, but a side-effect of the malignant power.
Things were changing on Coruscant, not all for the better. Hundreds of Sith had escaped the Temple and were wreaking havoc on galactic capital. Abeloth's last vengeful act on the planet had razed the Justice Center and risen an obsidian volcano in its place. Lava had flowed from the crest and melted hundreds of meters into the under-city, killing an untold number of beings unlucky enough to be beneath the molten rock. Clouds of toxic vapor slipped into populated areas, killing even more. The death toll was estimated to be in the billions.
The most devastating news, however, had come from the Senate. The Jedi were being blamed for the damage. BAMR claimed that it was the Jedi who had caused the seismic activity though arcane rituals based around their spice trade. As ludicrous as the allegations were, there was little they could do to sway public opinion. On one level, Luke had been almost glad for the turn of tide, it had made his own decision to have the Order leave Coruscant all the easier.
So it was here, on Shedu Maad, that the Jedi had moved after withdrawing from the Galactic Alliance, the Academy becoming the new Temple for the Order. Luke stared out into the dais of the exercise arena, watching over the initiates as they trained to become a new generation of Jedi Knights and Masters. He had spent most of his free time at Ben's side, but the responsibilities of a Grand Master were numerous and he could not escape them forever. Glancing back down to the official documents strewn about his desk, Luke was surprised to sense Cilghal's apprentice, Tekli, running to his office in such a flurry of excitement.
"Master Skywalker," the furry Jedi healer called, "It's Ben, he's waking up!"
Luke had dropped his paperwork and ran far faster than would probably have been proper for a Grand Master to have, probably physically faster than Yoda had ever been capable, to the Temple medcenter. Cilghal, the Mon Calamari Jedi Master, stood beside the bed, checking various monitors and leads to ensure the activity was normal. When Luke burst through the door, she turned. "Master Skywalker, it would appear you're just in time."
After ensuring that all the readings were within normal parameters, Cilghal and Tekli withdrew, leaving Master Skywalker to have some personal time with his son. Ben's eyes were moving beneath his lids rapidly, as if in a dream. Luke knelt down and grasped his son's hand. "It's okay, Ben, you're safe, you're among friends."
"Dad?" the word was weak, but clear enough to everyone in the room. Ben's eyes stayed closed but he gripped back to Luke.
Grinning, Luke nodded. "Yes, it's me, Ben. How are you feeling?"
"Like I just went up against a rancor in a free for all," Ben croaked, but the slight smile undercut the sentiment. "Just haven't figured out which of us won, yet."
At least his sense of humor is fine, Luke thought. With everything appearing normal, the two Jedi healers withdrew from the room to give father and son a chance to talk.
"Did you have any doubts? It's been though a lot more than this," Ben chuckled.
Luke felt a shiver run up his spine. Though the thought hadn't been shielded, he rarely did so with his son, Ben had been able to understand and respond to it as if Luke had spoken out loud. As in tune with each other as they had been in recent year, Ben had never demonstrated the level of ability to actually pick up on specific words, only the feeling behind them. For that matter, why were his eyes still closed, there was no reason they should be. Cilghal had never said anything about injury to them.
"Ben," Luke said tentatively, "can you open your eyes for me?"
In a fluid motion, they opened to reveal solid black orbs, shiny and slick. The oily color seemed to soak in to the iris, leaving an alabaster white sclera behind lacking any veins to mar it. The shadow receded into the pupil, leaving behind the familiar sky-blue coloring. Watching carefully, Luke could just make out the faintest pinprick of light in the very center of Ben's pupil, the kind all too familiar to Luke in his crusade against Abeloth. Jerking away from his son, he summoned the lightsaber to his hand on instinct, though he stopped short of activating it.
"What have you done with my son?" Luke demanded, the pain audible in his voice. Abeloth had taken so much from him, past loves, but this hurt the most.
Ben turned his head slightly, raised up by pillows. The gleam in the center of his eyes shone brighter as he fully woke up. "I am your son," he said, far too calm given the situation, "but a little more now." He neither smiled nor gave any indication as to the pleasure Abeloth would take from doing this to Luke.
"I ask you again, what have you done with my son?" Luke bellowed, taking a step closer to the bed with the lightsaber emitter pointed at Ben.
"I told you, Dad, I'm still the same person, I'm not Abeloth in disguise." Ben said, the conviction easy to sense in the Force, "but some things have . . . changed."
The stars in Ben's eyes shifted away from the silvery glow Luke had seen in so many avatars to a bluish corona. "I'll explain everything, Dad, I just need to get my bearings a bit," Ben said, sounding tired despite the month-long coma. He looked around wearily, "Where's Ves?"
Luke didn't know what he should do, it certainly looked and sounded like Ben, it even felt like Ben, nothing like the shells he'd fought with before, but he couldn't ignore the eyes, it was unnatural. Seeing he'd lose nothing in admitting the truth, Luke explained, "She's being held in the detention area, she's still unconscious. She was giving off a dark aura in the Force."
"She's awake now," Ben said simply, "I have to go to her."
Luke eyed him suspiciously, knowing that no one could sense anything through a ysalamiri bubble, "What makes you say that?"
"Because I'm awake," Ben answered, as if it explained everything.
Luke gently lowered the lightsaber hilt, but kept it in hand. He nudged Cilghal and Tekli to not come in just yet, but guard the room. He needed to know what was happening to his son, but was unwilling to risk anyone else in this quest. "What happened to you, Ben?"
"I need to see Ves, Dad," Ben said, insistent.
"Not now, first you need to tell me what happened on Abeloth's planet." Luke put the authority that came with years as the Jedi Order's Grand Master into the words.
But Ben seemed undaunted, resigned even as his shoulders slumped down, "After I tell you, you'll let me see her?"
"Yes, once I understand everything."
A half-grin tugged at the edges of Ben's mouth, but his voice was melancholy, "Understanding everything may be a bit of a stretch, but I'll tell you what happened. It started when Ves and I woke up after Abeloth had just landed on her world . . . "
Author's Note: I got this idea after reading the last installment of the Fate of the Jedi series the other day. I'd been meaning to do it for a while, but decided to read through the whole thing from start to finish to get the full effect. As a series, I'd give it a solid B+, I did really enjoy reading it and it had so many good characters in it. I especially liked where they went with things between Ben and Vestara. I'm actually hoping they develop their relationship and at one point they get together. I don't really expect it for a while, since they left this series off with them in opposite corners, but one can hope. Just so long as they don't try to pull what they did with Luke and give Ben half a dozen love interests before settling on one. Just develop Vestara, after all we fans need a little love after they killed off Mara.
That got a little off tangent, but back to the Note. I read the book, and a little plot spider started running around in my mind (Why not plot bunny, you ask? Because I'm just that awesome. And, I fill in a story like a web. But if anyone asks, say the former, it sounds cooler that way). I got to thinking about what would have happened if Ben and Vestara had decided to drink from the Font of Power instead of refusing it. A couple different things from my normal stories. For one, it's going to be the longest story I've ever written. It's also my first that doesn't contain Palpatine as a main character, but I'll give him a minor part later on. The biggest change, though, is the type of story. This is going to be my first romance! People who know me just did a double take there, but yes, I'm trying my hand at a romance story. This originally was going to be a two or three chapter story, but I expanded upon my initial idea and now it's practically a novel. Nearly everything is already written, so no hiatus on new chapters.
Of course, as with all my stories, I own none of the characters, locations, etc.