"Hey, you beat Leyla every time, or so I hear."

"True; maybe I should drag her up here for one more game, just to boost my ego back up a notch."

"Nah. I think she'd have a much better shot of beating you now."

"Why's that?"

"Leyla's experience yesterday- it taught her one very important thing: the value of sacrifice."

-Jaina Solo-Fel and Gavin Darklighter (on dejarik) - Reciprocity

Chapter 1

47 ABY - Dawn's Folly

"What do you know of Alpha Red?"

Leyla blinked, glanced once at a stoically silent Vulcor, and then looked back at her long-missing uncle. "It… it was a failure. A pathogen engineered by New Republic Intelligence, designed to specifically target Yuuzhan Vong life forms during the war- but it was too versatile, too unpredictable, to be used. So it was destroyed."

Cem sighed. "In principle, yes. Save two points- it was not a creation of the New Republic, it was a collaborative project between Intelligence and Chiss biotechnicians- a strange partnership to be sure, but the New Republic had greater access to study samples from which to acquire genetic material of various Yuuzhan Vong life forms, and the Chiss… they had a similar project that was conceived decades ago- quietly, at the behest of Thrawn, who was then a commander in the Expansionary Defense Fleet- to deal with a cruel species known as the Vagaari who wrought destruction across Wild Space, murdering and enslaving as they went."

"And the second point?" Vulcor asked quietly.

It seemed to Leyla that Cem was choosing his words carefully. "The project was destroyed, yes- first sabotaged by the creature Vergere, later destroyed by its creators when it was proved that it was too volatile and would potentially affect organisms which were not of Yuuzhan Vong origins. The conception of the project, the process of developing it first for the Vagaari and then adapting it for the Yuuzhan Vong- as you can well imagine, it was a complex undertaking of many years… and it was painstakingly documented. Each failure, each success, each new reaction…"

Leyla stared. "And those notes were destroyed as well…? Cem?"

He shook his head slowly. "The chiss in charge of the project made to destroy all evidence that it had ever existed- by all reckoning, it was a catastrophic failure not worth salvaging. Upon going to do so, however, it became evident that another had gotten there first; the security on the files was strong enough that the thief could not erase all evidence of his actions."

"It's been almost twenty years since then," his niece murmured softly.

"Yes," Cem acknowledged. "Twenty years in which, even as the being who ultimately came into possession of Alpha Red has planned his vengeance, others have made provisions to act against him… when the time is right."

The number of questions whirling through Leyla's mind was, quite frankly, astounding, and she struggled to pick just one to start with. Vulcor, however, solved her problem by speaking first. "What does this have to do with us?"

Though he answered Vulcor's question, Cem's eyes never left Leyla's. "We want you to join us, of course; our quarry has set the pieces and made his first move- and we want your help as we make our own."

She actually laughed, though there was little mirth in the sound. "I'm going to need a lot more than that before you can expect me to have a response to such a request. Why me? Why you? And who could have possibly had the resources to revive the Empire of the Hand, apparently unbeknownst to the rest of the galaxy?"

"I'm afraid that there is only so much I can answer outside the security of our base," Cem leaned back and considered her, sizing her up. "Secrecy is tantamount to our cause- which means that if you leave, you hear no more."

"But if you shared all of this with the Jedi-"

"No," Cem countered flatly. "We do this our way. The instant the target is spooked, he will go for maximum damage."

She frowned. "What's he after now, if not damage?"

"Chaos," he said simply. "And he's succeeding in creating it."

A horrible realization was finally dawning on Leyla, and she stared at her uncle with a new understanding. "Torolis," she whispered.

Vulcor looked at her sharply. "Come again?"

"Rodia… Falleen… Sullust…" she counted them off quietly, in a daze. "Bothan Space. Torolis."

Cem nodded solemnly. "This is here, this is now, Leyla. If we overplay our hand, if we are revealed too soon… billions will die."

She swallowed thickly. "And the two on the bridge, Cem? The older one carries the crest and colors of the Third House and bears the insignia of syndic."

"Leyla…" he sighed.

"Cem…" she said back warningly.

He ran a hand through his short hair and closed his eyes. "Csun'abr'inrokini headed the initial project against the Vagaari," he explained quietly. "He headed the team of bioengineers who worked with New Republic Intelligence against the Yuuzhan Vong. And yes, he was the one who discovered the security breach in the Alpha Red project."

"But he was never part of the Empire of the Hand," Leyla said slowly.

"I told you," Cem countered, "Thrawn conceived of the project while he was still a member of the Ascendancy, long before he was exiled and joined the Empire, and forged his own." She stared dully back at him. "He saved their lives, Leyla."

"My mother and brother could have died for what happened," she shot back angrily.

His eyes flashed. "Yes, if you recall, I was present for the wholly unexpected revelation that your brother is, in fact, Jagged's son, and not Master Durron's."

"My mother did what she had to."

"As did the syndic," he murmured back almost challengingly. "His alternative was to stand idly by while another attempted and likely succeeded in murdering your father and mine." Leyla opened and closed her mouth furiously a few times, trying to find words to rebut him. "He needed time to move his people and materials out of the Ascendancy; had he let them go, he would have made himself a target to those who confided in and trusted him to carry out their treachery."

Her expression was fading from anger into something like betrayal. "My god," she whispered. "You- they- what did you do, Cem? You knew they were alive all that time, didn't you?"

"Don't be foolish," he snapped at her, "I'd have gladly killed Syndic Nabrin in cold blood at the time, given the chance. It was only those events which made those working to rebuild the Empire of the Hand aware of my existence."

She shook her head. "You aren't giving me much to go on here, Cem. Even in asking me to trust that man…"

Cem sighed, nodded, and retrieved a comlink; keying it on, he murmured softly into it. While he spoke, Vulcor looked at Leyla in a mixture of perplexity, incredulity, and frustration. She just shrugged and shook her head, eyeing Cem suspiciously when he put the comlink away. "You still haven't answered- why me?"

"As a Jedi, you bring something to the table that no other Fel can. And as a Fel, Leyla," he met her eyes piercingly, "this is your heritage, like it or not."

Vulcor bristled by her side. "And as a Solo, a Skywalker, and a Durron, she has an inherent obligation to the Jedi and to the Galactic Alliance as well."

"Your Galactic Alliance is compromised," Cem told him bluntly. "And it will grow worse before it gets better."

"But-" she was cut off by the hiss of the door sliding open, and she reflexively stood, feeling wary and cornered, as the two red-eyed chiss entered the room, the syndic in front looking mildly wary himself. Meeting his eyes coolly, she spoke stiltedly. "Syndic- my uncle says you saved my father's life; you'll pardon me if I refrain from genuflecting in my gratitude?"

Cem sighed. "Leyla-"

"The syndic is not to be held accountable," the other chiss stepped smoothly forward and met her stare steadily, almost challengingly as he had done on the bridge some minutes prior. "He accepted and followed orders from another."

"Who?" Leyla shot back.

His lips curled in a bemused smile. "Myself, of course."

"Crahsystor," Cem muttered, holding up a hand. "Leyla, Syndic Csun'abr'inrokini has spearheaded the effort for nigh on two decades to handle the ramifications from Alpha Red from a scientific standpoint. Handling matters on the tactical front, and working tirelessly to establish contact with old garrisons of the Hand is Commander-"

The other stepped forward and inclined his head to her. "Mitth'raw'nuruodo."

Leyla blinked. "Excuse me?"

"The rank is of a somewhat unofficial nature, to be sure, but a certain discretion is necessary in these unusual circumstances…"

Cem stared at him and muttered harshly, "I thought the plan was-"

"It is a bad plan. Jedi Solo-Fel should understand the situation if she is to work with us."

"She hasn't agreed to do anything of the sort," Cem countered.

Vulcor bristled. "Do you think she can just disappear without notice like yourself, Captain Fel?"

"Your flare for the dramatic is going to destroy everything we've-"

"Stop!" All eyes in the room turned back to Leyla, whose eyes had not left the younger chiss standing before her. "Who are you?"

"Most will simply use the address of 'Commander' or 'Crahsystor'," he assured her, "given the inherent political prejudices and a certain misunderstanding and distrust that has plagued the cloning industry since its creation."

"The cloning industry…?"

"The syndic will resort to my full name in moments of extreme exasperation- but you, Jedi Solo-Fel…" his eyes glittered strangely.

"You may call me Thrawn."

X-X-X-X

Coruscant

Jaina Solo-Fel slid back into bed in the small apartment she and Jag had rented on Coruscant for a couple of months while the political crisis was at its height; the building was near where her parents lived, and not much further from Kyp and Gennevi, and all three of their abodes were within a half-hour speeder trip from the Jedi temple, so it was a good central location for their purposes.

The unmoving lump on the bed groaned lightly as she wrapped her arms around it; and then she heard Jag's muffled voice trying to be heard through a pillow. "What time is it?"

"Just past oh-six-hundred," she murmured, and he groaned again. "We had a message- Vulcor and Leyla are on their way back, they should be arriving late tonight."

"Tha's good," he mumbled, rolling over and wrapping an arm around her waist, dragging her close and curling up against her body. "G'night."

She laughed softly and kissed her way across one cheek to his ear. "I should go to the temple soon." He made a disgruntled noise of protest. "Mom and dad are going to come get Navi around ten hundred to spend the day with him."

"Wha' am I s'posed t'do?"

"Get together with Gennevi and mope about being retired military?"

"Okay…"

She grinned and tilted her head up to kiss his brow. "I'll see you tonight."

"You should stay a while."

"Why? You're asleep."

"B'cause I want you to."

She smirked slyly as one of his eyes cracked open. "Convince me."

And in the blink of an eye, he was wide awake and on her, rolling so that she was pinned beneath him as his mouth zeroed in on her neck, kissing and sucking lightly and making her gasp. After several seconds, he sat up and met her glassy-eyed look challengingly, a single scarred brow rising slowly, almost tauntingly. "Convinced?"

"You were faking?"

"No, I really am tired. But I am also a man who will resort to any means necessary to keep his warm-bodied, lightly-clothed, beautiful wife in bed with him a while longer."

"And when cute-tired-mumbly-Jag didn't convince me, you went to awake-domineering…" she shifted her weight slightly and watched the slightest darkening of his eyes in response, "aroused-Jag instead?"

"Clearly it is a tactic that will soon become obsolete."

"I love when you talk strategy in bed."

"And how am I doing so far?"

"I'll never surrender."

"Oh?"

"Never- not even- oh!" she gasped. "I surrender, I surrender."

X-X-X-X

Dawn's Folly

When the silence had stretched on for close to half a minute, Leyla finally turned her head to look shakily at her uncle, who met her look impassively; in his eyes, she could read trace amounts of frustrated annoyance with the chiss before him but no signs of duplicity, of treachery. From Vulcor, a confused skepticism radiated towards her, but not the sudden dry-mouthed alarm bordering on fear that was all Leyla could feel at the moment. Then again, his isolation until the age of nineteen had resulted in a certain glossing over of some elements of galactic history and, while he undoubtedly recognized the name of the Empire's last and most ruthless grand admiral, he might not make the connection to the personal history he had with Leyla's family.

She swallowed with effort. "If this is some form of obligatory hazing that accompanies the offer to join your empire…"

Cem coughed a laugh, but controlled himself and shook his head. "Nothing so sinister."

"But… what…? I mean…"

The impossible figure before her- Thrawn- looked wryly amused. "It is not unusual for one to take time to become acclimated to the idea of a clone… the captain and the syndic were both-"

"A clone?" Leyla demanded, voice rising in pitch. "A clone?" She barked an incredulous laugh. "You think I could care less that you're a clone? You- Thrawn- he- when he wasn't tearing up the New Republic in the last months of his life, he was attempting to kidnap my grandmother!"

"Ah," Thrawn nodded, "it is true; may I point out that the galaxy was a wholly different place nearly forty years ago?"

She gaped. "No, you may not!"

Cem sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, and then shot an accusing look at Thrawn. "I think you've accomplished all you will here and are now doing more damage than good in the matter." Leyla nodded dumbly, eyes wide. "Perhaps it would be best if we restricted the shocking revelations to those which are wholly relevant at the moment?" he asked Thrawn.

The chiss nodded indulgently towards Cem, and he and Nabrin, all but forgotten for the moment, retreated from the room and returned to the bridge. Leyla followed their progress until the door shut behind them, and then turned slowly back towards her uncle, mouth agape. "Thrawn, Cem."

"Yes."

"The Thrawn."

"Well… cloned, but yes."

"The Thrawn whose ultimate goal in his last months alive was kidnapping my grandmother to get at her unborn twin children who happen to be my mother and uncle!"

He had the grace to look mildly abashed, but his eyes grew hard as he stared her down. "I cannot answer for him, Leyla, save to point out that he has only ever done what he thought best for this galaxy."

"Oh," she laughed wildly, "great. Spoken like an unquestioning follower."

"Do you imagine Jagged feels any differently?"

It was a low blow, but an effective one, and she recoiled as though she'd been physically slapped. Responding to her own heightened emotions, Vulcor tensed noticeably at her side, and she took a deep breath and put a restraining hand on his arm. "I imagine," she told Cem coolly, "that my father's experiences in the Empire of the Hand and in the Ascendancy have accorded him a slightly altered perspective on the absolutist views of undying devotion towards a long-dead leader who-"

"Had Thrawn gone to my brother instead of me," Cem interrupted her smoothly, "Jagged would be here in my place without question."

She shook her head. "He wouldn't do that to my mother and my brother, Cem. And I can't believe that you think I would either. And you are aware that your parents spent weeks on Bastion looking- unofficially- for any clues to your disappearance? That my father and Ashik risked a trip back into the Ascendancy for the same purpose?"

Cem nodded. "And by now, my father knows enough to stop asking questions."

"And my father?"

"Was never in any danger."

"Among the people who wanted him dead eight years ago?"

"We had him covered."

She stared. "You-"

"Enough," Cem held up a hand. "There are more important matters at hand. Rest assured, Leyla, Jagged is safely on Coruscant with his wife and son, as are my parents-"

"Which," Vulcor finally spoke up hardly, "is precisely where Leyla and I are headed so the whole family might be together. Because unlike you, Master Fel, Leyla will be missed and she will be sought after most ardently."

Cem regarded him carefully. "And that is something you know from firsthand experience, is it not, Jedi Vulcor? As one who has both done the seeking and been the sought-after?"

Leyla stared. Apparently Cem knew more about Vulcor than he'd let on when he'd first pulled her into the room. "Your point?" Vulcor asked him quietly, face not betraying the slight tension Leyla could feel emanating from him in the Force.

"My point is that thirteen years ago, you could have been arrested and executed for treason against the Galactic Alliance- or at the very least, against the Imperial Remnant. And instead, thirteen years later, you are a friend of and implicitly trusted by the very person you assisted in kidnapping- if only through your silent acceptance of the plans of others." Vulcor's grey eyes narrowed slightly. "Appearances can be… misleading."

Seeming to come to some sort of decision, Vulcor stood abruptly. "That they can be. So if you'll excuse us, we must be on our way so we can make our report to the Council and let your family know that you're alive, well, and playing pirate in the mid-rim."

Both men looked expectantly at Leyla, whose gaze bounced between them two or three times. "What?"

A half-smile touched Cem's lips. "Jedi Vulcor will not leave without you, Leyla. So what will it be?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"There's always a choice. Here, there are several: you can leave now, make your report with full details of what you have learned here, and see what happens. You can leave, omit the details of this encounter, and let us go about our work as we were. Or," he leaned forward and met her eyes, "you can come back to base with us, let us show you what the galaxy is truly up against, and help us defeat an evil beyond that yet seen in your lifetime."A long and unsure silence weighed heavily on the room. "You may leave if you like," Cem repeated. "We can safely drop out of hyperspace in another hour and-"

"Out of hyperspace?" Vulcor demanded.

Cem smiled thinly. "It was unwise to linger in as busily trafficked a lane as that in which we picked you up. We made the jump to lightspeed five minutes ago." He turned back to his niece. "In another hour," he repeated, "we will drop out of hyperspace. At that time, you can either choose to leave or you can choose to send a message, with your apologies, to whomever you see fit."

"A message saying what?"

He blinked. "Anything you like. Tell them you're stressed and taking a vacation," she rolled her eyes. "Tell them you're eloping." Vulcor coughed suddenly and violently. "Tell them that you ran into a clone of the late Grand Admiral Thrawn on the Hydian Way and are helping him prevent a catastrophic galactic crisis."

She cocked a brow. "But that one is, apparently, the truth."

He smirked. "But who would believe it?"

Leyla looked slowly to Vulcor and read the angry frustration in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Vulcor."

"I gave my word," he murmured tonelessly to her, "that I would bring you safely back to Coruscant."

She shook her head slowly. "It wasn't yours to give," she whispered sadly. "And it wasn't my mother's demand to make."

"Then I hope this is worth the pain you will cause your family." They locked eyes and stared at one another for a minute, oblivious to Cem's presence. "Leyla, if this is your way of showing everyone that you're independent and miffed at being pulled off an assignment early-"

"If this-!" she interrupted him angrily and then stopped, breathing hard. Her words were forcedly even, as though willing herself not to lose control. "When we drop from hyperspace, I'll send them a message- and you can go."

"You know I won't."

"Yes," she nodded sadly, "but I am not asking you to stay."

"Are you asking me to go?"

For a long minute, she was quiet; she wanted to say yes, wanted to tell him to go to Coruscant, to make her excuses, to reveal however much or little he saw fit regarding what they had learned from Cem… but she couldn't lie, and he would see through her in a heartbeat if she tried. "No."

"Then I stay."

X-X-X-X

Cem left the conference room to give Leyla time to think over and compose a message that would both assuage some of her parents' fear over her wellbeing and whereabouts but also not reveal too much about where she was going- not that she even knew to be able to tell them. Staring at the blankness of the tinted viewport, obstructing the hypnotizing view of traveling in hyperspace, he shook his head slowly, wondering if they had just set a series of events into motion that would be catastrophic to their cause.

He felt rather than heard the approaching presence, and he murmured softly, only for his companion's ears. "I hope you know what you're doing. She's very young."

"How old were her parents when they were doing their part for the galaxy?"

"Touché."

"I think you may come to find yourself pleasantly surprised by your niece, Captain Fel."

His lips quirked as he glanced sidelong at the chiss by his side. "That assessment is based on what, exactly? I barely even know my own niece and you met the girl a half-hour ago."

"But an extremely educational half-hour it proved." Cem cocked a brow questioningly. "Nabrin is still alive, for one. I believe you showed far less restraint upon your first meeting with the syndic than did she."

"Once she overcomes the shock of everything else, she will have questions. Her mother's family holds no fond memories of your tenure as Grand Admiral."

"In all fairness, I hold no fond memories of her mother's family during my tenure as Grand Admiral. In fact, it is probably for the best that Rukh killed me when he did; it saves me the trouble of having memories of the Solos' and Skywalkers' sabotage against the Wayland storehouse. My flash-learning is blissfully lacking the last month of my life."

Cem turned finally to fully face Thrawn, and he frowned and shook his head slowly. "Five years later, Thrawn, it is still highly disconcerting to hear you say things like that." A corner of the chiss's mouth twitched, but he was quiet. "A fine pair we make," Cem sighed. "You're dead and I don't exist." He paused. "My brother is going to kill me."

X-X-X-X