It wasn't just the Skywalker-Solo clan who had felt the deaths through the Force. All of the council members, along with many of the more experienced knights, had felt the shockwave to a greater or lesser extent, and without any call being needed, they had filed into the Conclave chamber, gathering in small groups as they waited for Master Skywalker to make his appearance, and explain the situation.
It was a long time before he arrived.
Finally, the two staff members standing by the doors leading into the hall opened the doors, admitting the grand Master. The man was haggard, and through the Force, all of the assembled Jedi could feel the massive amount of pain in Luke Skywalker's heart.
"My friends, this order has today received one of its most crippling peacetime blows," he announced. "Jedi Knight Leia Organa Solo, along with her husband Han, an honorary but greatly valued member of both our order and the galactic community, have both been murdered. They were travelling to visit their granddaughter, Allana, when they were attacked by the lost tribe of the Sith. From this, I believe we ought to strike back, and destroy their last remnants wherever they hide…
As Luke continued his speech, Corran Horn began to wonder about the state of mind of the man on the stage.
He blames the lost tribe. Where is his proof? How does he know it wasn't a navigation... he broke that thought off, remembering the sensation of crashing, fiery death. O.k. it was murder, but the lost tribe wouldn't be targeting the Falcon unless they believed they would gain. Or it could have been a simple attempt at piracy, by the Sith. But why the Sith? It could have been any old large gang of experienced pirates.
"… I will be travelling to apprehend the former Jedi and Sith Vestara Khai, who was last reported on Tattoine, by a unit of GA Inteligence operatives. Ben will be accompanying me, as his connection to Vestara is likely to allow him to take her alive if it is possible to do so. She has previously attempted the murder of Han Solo, and Allana, by means of a thermal detonator, and so must be the first in the frame for a subsequent successful attempt."
He is targeting her based on her previous actions during a conflict. That information would certainly support taking her in for questioning, but this smacks more of judicial abduction, as I doubt her possible innocence in the matter would be enough to ensure her release into the galactic community.
"Master Skywalker," Corran asked. "Wouldn't it be better if I accompanied you, as both you and Ben have a potential conflict of interest?"
"That won't be necessary, Corran."
I'm not so sure. But we'll find out, one way or another.
"Master Skywalker," Cilghal asked, once everyone else had left the room. "Are you sure you are mentally fit for this operation?"
"How do you mean?" he replied, puzzled.
"As in, will you be able to control your emotions while Vestara Khai is in your custody?"
"I am a Jedi master."
"And I am the head of the Order's healers. And based on my knowledge, particularly of human psychology, you are likely to struggle with the long term presence of someone you blame for the death of two of your relatives."
"I am going, with Ben, to capture her."
"At your orders, sir."
"How do you mean?"
"I do not condone this course of action. It is my belief that you should remain in the temple, Master Skywalker. I do not personally believe you to be compos mentis."
Luke, at that point, turned his back and stalked off, his anger evident through both his bearing and his force presence.
From an alcove twenty yards away, Corran had watched the entire exchange, one hand on his lightsaber hilt, and had heard every word that passed between Luke and Cilghal, and witnessed Luke's reaction to the suggestion that he not travel with Ben.
As Cilghal walked towards him, the opposite direction to that in which Luke Skywalker had departed in, he stepped out of the alcove, and fell into step beside the Mon Calamari.
"This is not good," he commented. "Han and Leia are gone, and now Master Skywalker is acting like a child."
"I fear it is worse than that, Corran, much worse."
"What do you mean?"
"You felt his anger just now. If that is his reaction to advice, I shudder to think what would happen if he was crossed, even by his own son."
"Can we detain him?"
"It'd take the entire council, and half the knights to overpower him, physically, and with the force, he is the strongest of us all."
"Drugs?"
"We'd have to put him in a coma to overcome his powers, and one dose wouldn't be enough."
"And if we let him go?"
"Then we take the chance of him falling to the dark side, and we would have to take him down. And if it comes to that, may the Force be with us all."
~0~
In his office, Luke briefly logged into his holoterminal, before forwarding a copy of Han's last message to Jaina, who he knew was taking an extended honeymoon on Naboo, in the hope she could at least recover what was left of her parents and their ship.
Then Ben came sprinting into the room, still in his flight suit, carrying his helmet by the chinstrap, and stopped short as he felt the pain on his father's heart.
As his father looked up, his heart and face bleak, Ben said "I'm sorry dad. I wish I could have done something."
"Everyone wishes that today, Ben. But we also know that only the Venture would have been enough to save them."
"Not even your help…?"
"I couldn't have saved them in a starfighter. An interdictor cruiser was nearly impossible to down with a squadron of T-65 X-wings, although they could be driven off."
"I… I just wish."
"So do we all. I need you to go and get your grab bag. We're going to tatooine to apprehend your girlfriend. She may know something."
Ben flushed slightly when Vestara was referred to as his girlfriend, and Luke felt the spike of pain from it, which confirmed that Ben still loved her.
"On what grounds?" Ben asked. The question threw Luke, for a split second, because it sounded just like something Corran Horn would have asked.
"On the grounds of having made a previous attempt at the victims' murder."
"And that makes her more of a suspect than about every imperial moff, TIE pilot and pirate gang in the outer rim?" Ben asked, his cheeks still flushed slightly.
"Your Uncle sent me a message, in which he relays your aunt's impression that they were under Sith attack."
"O.k. and that means Ves was involved?" Ben replied, sounding slightly unsure.
"No it doesn't, but she is the only known Sith we have a heads up on. Face Loran contacted me to say a group of his operatives had come into contact, literally, with her, and had spotted Ship over the Jundland wastes, and the old Kenobi place is reported as inhabited by sandcrawlers. This gives us a target to aim for, as no sensible individual without force powers would occupy an isolated hut fourteen klicks from a major Tusken encampment."
"I guess. Is she going to be considered hostile?"
"Would you rate her as hostile, Ben?"
"Only if she was in close proximity to Ship, and even then, she would probably be more interested in sleeping with me than killing me." Ben replied, flippantly, although Luke could feel a slight edge on his emotions.
"And you?" Luke asked. "How would you react to her?"
"I honestly don't know. I still love her, but I also know that she tried to kill nearly every member of my family at some point during our previous encounter, so I might be slightly angry at her. Whatever else though, I still love her, and I want to properly redeem her."
"I think the pair of us ought to be able to take her down and get some with some force blanking restraints on her wrists, so we can capture and hold her."
"And if she comes quietly?"
The question threw Luke for a second, but he finally managed to reply "then she wears them in front of her, stacked, rather than spending the trip attached to some cargo tie-down rings, naked."
"She has civil rights too, dad." Ben replied, as he left the room, before feeling a slight oppressive and dark edge fading from the force as his proximity to Luke Skywalker increased. "Kriff, dad. What is wrong with you?" he muttered, as he turned into his quarters to collect his flight bag, rather than the grab bag he used for his X-wing.
~0~
When she woke up, the slightly invasive presence of ship was gone, Vestara Khai realised with a start. Tentatively, she sent out a probing thought, and found nothing.
As she got up from the small cot in the corner of an old hut she had moved into, as was the way on Tattoine.
When she had arrived there, drawn by the force signature, the roof had been caved in, and she had spent a full week installing a new roof, using a set of metal beams she had dug out of a dune as rafters for the canvas construction that mostly kept the weather out.
A trip to Fort Tusken had allowed her to acquire a defective vaporator, in exchange for being intimidating to a group of smugglers, apparently led by a gammorean. The result had been a firefight, and she had retreated under fire from a slug-pistol shaped like a T, which had fired shots at her so rapidly that she couldn't anticipate them.
"Kra'fir." She muttered under her breath, as the likely reality of life on tatooine without transport hit home. She knew suddenly that she was going to die in this place, unmourned even by Ben. And that hurt her, because she still loved him.
Despairingly, she drew out the other item she had acquired in Fort Tusken, a portable holocommunicator with sufficient range to hit a repeating station on the Darklighter estate. She had managed to find the private channel for Ben's quarters on Ossus, and had also figured out the reverse charge method that would bill it to the Jedi order. After firing up the device, she fidgeted with the gem on a small wire bracelet Ben had made for her, using the electrical repair kit aboard the Shadow. He had found the gem on Korriban, inside a sith tomb, and melded it into the wire like a lightsaber crystal.
After about two minutes, the holocomm bleeped its ready tone, and she entered the channel she wanted to reach, before pressing the call button.
"Ben," she said into the device, after giving it a moment to connect. "This is Vestara Khai, and I want to come back to the order."
As Ben was about to leave his room, an unfamiliar electronic tone startled him, and, after he had rolled through the doorway, and lain there for about ten seconds, he recalled it was the incoming call signal from his holocomm unit, which he had never used. "Ben Skywalker, go ahead."
"… Khai, and I want to come back to the order."
"Ves…?" he asked, recognising her voice instantly. " Why in the name of the dark side are you calling me? To gloat at the news about my aunt and uncle?"
"What. What happened to your aunt and uncle?"
"Some of your Sith buddies ambushed them on their way to visit Allana. They shot them out of space."
"I am so sorry. I had no idea." She stammered, cringing slightly at the anger and pain in Ben's voice.
"Then why are you calling me?"
"Because if you don't come and take me prisoner, I am going to die, slowly and painfully, from dehydration."
"Have you gambled away Ship and marooned yourself somwhere?" Ben asked, smiling slightly.
"He left, because of you."
"How did you plot that course?" he asked, confused at the idea.
"I can't stop loving you. He wanted to make me hate you for not intervening with your cousin, but I couldn't bring myself to." she replied, her tone full of despair. "I don't want to be a Sith anymore."
"If you stay on Tattoine, you can ride all the way to Osuss in our nice, climate controlled brig on the Shadow." Ben told her, his neutral tone seeming to be both loving and hurt, even over the holocomm.
"I can't leave. I'm in the middle of the desert, and I've got about four day's worth of water left."
"We're on our way to you anyway. We need to question you over that little incident involving my aunt and uncle." he told her, amazed at the way she sagged with relief at the news.
"I love you, Ben. Now and always, I love you."
"And please be warned, you will be riding in force-proof stun cuffs."
"Just come and rescure me," she begged. "You are my only hope."
"We're on our way. Don't go anywhere." HE quipped, smiling slightly, before pressing the end call button on his console.
As she put the device down, Vestara relaxed for one moment, before stowing the holocomm carefully into her pack, and taking up a meditation position, as she tried and failed to centre herself, unable to cut through the turmoil if thoughts, about being an a Jedi, and about Ben, and a few tricks she remembered learning in another life.