AN: Thanks to my wonderful beta readers for helping me find my mistakes. Thanks also to the one reviewer I have. I hope to see more.

Chapter III

Lady Starstorm - Space

Jaina Solo would typically enjoy a trip to Coruscant to visit her parents if it wasn't for her twin brother Jacen. While Jaina had always been 'Daddy's little girl', Jacen had been rebellious since day one. Although she loved her brother, it would be nice if for once they could have a family gathering without an argument starting between her father and her twin.

She stood up in the cabin of the Lady Starstorm and stretched. They would soon be arriving at Coruscant, and although she longed to see her parents, she knew that a visit to her Uncle at the very least was inevitable. The mission had been a success, although Jacen would undoubtedly call it boring. The Ossarians had agreed to lay down their weapons and call a ceasefire with the people of Rhommamool. Still, she'd felt a massive disturbance in the Force earlier, and she wanted to know what it was.

She ventured from the cockpit and moved into the cabin. Closing her eyes, she reached out with the Force into the living quarters. The only other passenger that occupied the ship was her brother, but she felt a dark presence that had been lingering around him since the beginning of their journey. She diminished her presence in the Force, and slid the door open and peaked in. Her brother was snoring softly in the bed, and nothing was out of the ordinary. The dark presence lingered, but seemed to be non-threatening now.

Smirking, she flipped on the light and used the Force to tip the mattress so that Jacen slid to the floor, causing him to leap to his feet in a combat stance before he realized what had happened. She laughed before throwing him his shirt. "We're almost home," she said. "Come help me land the ship." He glowered at her, but put on his top, grabbing his coat on the way out.

Coming out of hyperspace, Jacen transmitted the clearance codes to enter Coruscant's atmosphere while Jaina piloted the ship through traffic lanes until she reached the Jedi Temple. They landed in the temple's hanger, the two knights exited the ship and made their way to the council chambers where they were greeted by their mother, Luke, Mara, Ben, and their brother Anakin.

Leia quickly rose to embrace her two oldest children. "I'm so glad you're back," she said softly.

The twins and Leia sat down and waited for their uncle to begin speaking.

"The Academy was attacked today," Luke said after a minute of collecting himself. "So far, the dead outnumber the living, and the count is rising."

Jaina and Jacen turned to look at each other in shock before returning to the situation at hand.

"A maintenance worker was found dead in one of the storage rooms this evening," Luke continued. "Someone infiltrated the Temple, for what purpose I can only begin to imagine. Knight Durron was able to escape the Academy with Knights Veila and Djo, and Knight Djo's apprentice. Kyp sent me a message saying that he had something he wanted me to see when they arrived."

"Was Hett behind this?" asked Jacen angrily. "If he is, then he's committed an act of war in the name of the Confederacy."

"That's what I wanted to discuss with you tonight," replied Luke. "I'm sending the two of you, your father, and Chewie on a mission to Korriban to see what you can find. I believe that all of this connects in some way to A'Sharad and the missing Kaiburr Crystal."

The twins nodded while Anakin and Ben looked at Luke in confusion.

"This needs to be off the records," Luke continued. "Because we can't formally send an investigative crew to Korriban without informing the Senate or tipping off Hett, I need the four of you to get onto the planet, undetected, and relay your findings to me."

Jaina nodded, excited. Missions like this were her specialty. She enjoyed the stealth portion of missions, simply because of the edge of danger. She knew that her brother wouldn't particularly care for this mission, and even less that he was to be accompanied by their father, but he too would also enjoy his time spent on Korriban. Jacen had always felt that Hett was hiding something and he hated playing negotiator, so this would be a perfect opportunity for him.

Leia now looked at the twins. "Your father is waiting for you at home," she said, more to Jaina than Jacen. "We can discuss this mission more at mealtime."

Understanding that they were being dismissed, the Solo twins rose and left the room.

Luke then turned to Anakin and Ben. "I have a mission for you two as well – your first unaccompanied mission," he said as the two teens looked at each other in excitement. "Tomorrow morning, you two will journey to Naboo. The body of their most celebrated Queen was stolen sometime last night. I'm tasking you two to find it and return it."

Both his son and nephew frowned. "Isn't this kind of job normally taken on by local authorities?" asked Ben. "I doubt that they actually need the help of the Jedi."

"Normally yes," admitted Luke. "However, the thief somehow managed to avoid setting off every alarm in the building, and was not seen entering the crypt by any of the guards. They say that it was almost… like magic."

"Probably an inside job," said Anakin. "Her body will probably be sold back to the capital for some outrageous sum of money, after which they'll trace the credits and capture whoever it is."

"Nevertheless, I am sending the two of you to speed up the process," said Luke firmly. "You will be briefed by the council tomorrow morning at 700 hours. Until then, I'm sure 3PO will need some help with the cooking. You know how he tends to burn things."

Anakin and Ben both nod, then rose and walked out of the council chambers.

"They made a valid point," said Mara after the two teenagers had left. "This isn't the kind of job that we normally send Jedi on, even two Apprentices."

"Yes, but I'd feel better if we kept them as far away from the action as possible," replied Luke. "We have enough going on as it is without having to watch over them. At least this way they'll have something to keep them occupied."

Leia sighed. "I don't like keeping secrets from them," she murmured. "I feel like it will come back to haunt us."

"Still," insisted Luke, "it's the lesser of two evils. Keeping our sons in the dark while we deal with whatever threat is targeting the Order seems to be our best option."

The two women nodded.

Korriban

Darth Krayt strode through the halls of the ancient Pantheon of Korriban. When he arrived at the central room, he saw that Lumiya was prepared for the ritual. In the middle of the room, a pyramid-shaped item was placed on the floor. Moonlight streamed through the oculus, giving the room just the right ambiance for what they were about to do. His thoughts were interrupted however when a door on the opposite side of the room lifted and Lumiya entered, followed by Darth Maladi. Maladi was pushing a hovercart with a body on it.

"Lord Krayt, its nice of you to be on time for once," called Lumiya as she moved towards the center of the room. When she and the Sith Apprentice reached the center, she used the Force to levitate the covered body off the cart, and place it next to the pyramid shaped object. Bending down and with the utmost care, she placed the pyramid on the chest of the covered body.

Krayt watched, analyzing her every move. "You're certain this will work?" he asked for the hundredth time.

"Absolutely certain," she stated. "I'm assuming your apprentice informed you of the results of our initial experiment?"

"She did, but that was different," retorted Krayt. "You brought back a normal human life form with no force sensitivity. What we are attempting to resurrect is a Sith Lord. I'm assuming that the process is significantly more complex, and the power that would be required…"

"You are correct," the Dark Lady replied. "The energy required will certainly be higher. That is why I need you here for this to work. The Sith Holocron contains the memories and knowledge of Lord Plagueis, and the body we have here will serve as the perfect host for him. The blood is filled with midichlorians. All that is needed is the mind to use it."

Krayt nodded once and then reached into his pocket and pulled out a large crystal. "The Kaiburr Crystal - the Jedi's most prized possession; with it, we will tear down this farce that they call an order, and the Sith will rule the galaxy once more," he murmered to himself. He telekinetically moved it into a hole in the stone wall that had been crafted specifically for this purpose.

Lumiya, Maladi, and Krayt assumed positions around the body. With a wave of Lumiya's hands, all of the torches in the room ignited just as lightning struck outside of the Pantheon. She closed her eyes and gathered the Force around her, feeding on its strength. "It is time," she said. When she opened her eyes, they were a mottled yellow color with red around the irises. "Join minds with me."

This was the part that Krayt had been dreading. While in the mind meld, he wouldn't be able to sense what was happening, and he worried about the possibility of Lumiya killing him in exchange for the Sith that they were about to raise from the dead. Still, his plans could not be realized unless he did. Burying his fears, he joined in Lumiya's meld.

Outside, the storm picked up. Winds began tearing limbs from trees, and lightning struck the courtyard outside, starting a small fire that was quickly extinguished by the rain and heavy gusts of wind.

The Dark Lady used the combined strength to tear apart the holocron on the body and release the essence of the deceased Sith Lord. The body lifted from the ground and the hood slid off to reveal that was, in fact, a cloned, comatose Muun. "Rise Lord Plagueis," she said, eyes closed.

The essence from the holocron solidified into a black cloud that entered the body of the Muun, causing it to spasm uncontrollably. The weather grew rapidly worse, and crashes of trees that were felled by the lightning could be heard in the distance. The wind extinguished all of the torches and for a moment, her eyes seemed to have an unnatural glow. The body lowered to the floor, and the room was in complete darkness.

Then, slowly, a dark, maniacal laugh could be heard - coming from the Muun.

Lord Plagueis had risen.

Leia sat in front of her vanity and rubbed her temples in an attempt to ease the growing headache. The dinner itself had gone reasonably well, but the second Luke, Mara and Ben had left things had gone sour. Jacen had said something that set off his father, and the two had begun shouting at each other until Jaina and Anakin had been forced to drag Jacen out of the room while Leia restrained her husband.

"Why can't they just put aside their differences?" she wondered. "They are family after all." She knew better than anyone though that blood didn't necessitate kindness or civility. "Is that what my father and I would have been like? Fighting all the time?"

She stood up and made her way to the living quarters. She had decided that her husband would sleep alone tonight, and because he was too stubborn to give up the bed, she would take the couch. This was fine with her, as she had handpicked the couch because of the comfortable fold-out bed it had. She strode into her room and began taking pillows off the bed and tossing them into their living room. She briefly looked at the large pile that was already out there before glancing back into the bedroom. Eyes narrowed, she held out her hand and the pillow that Han had partially been lying on top of was yanked out from under him, causing him to wake with a start. She took the pillow and punched the controls for the door, watching it slam shut with mild satisfaction.

Settling in, she noticed a sliver of light appear under the door to Jacen's room before it was shut off. The door slid up slowly and she could barely see a dark figure creeping out of the room.

She switched on the light on the table next to her. "Where do you think you're going at this time of night?" she asked.

Her eldest son slowly turned around, a guilty look on his face. "To the Temple. I have something that I need to work on," he explained.

"Is that so?" she asked, eyeing him with mock suspicion. "Then why were you trying to sneak out?"

"I wasn't sneaking out," he replied defensively. "I was just trying to be quiet. I didn't want to wake anyone up."

She rolled her eyes. "Jacen, you're twenty-two years old, and you still don't know when I'm giving you a hard time. If you want to go to the Temple then by all means go. You're an adult now, and I can't stop you from going wherever you please. I trust you to act responsibly."

He grinned and walked up the pull out sofa and hugged her. "It's good to be back mom," he said quietly.

To Leia, moments like these made parenting worthwhile.

Jacen walked out the door and turned the corner. He then burst into a sprint to the nearest lift. He punched the button for level 48, which housed the speeders. He counted the seconds until the door slid open, and he dashed to his speeder. Flying out of the garage, he had every intention of getting to the Temple faster than anyone ever had before.

When he finally docked, he jumped out and made his way to the Nubian ship that had landed not too far away. Standing on the ramp was the silhouette of a woman. He ran up to her and pulled her into a fiery embrace. When he pulled away, he noticed the pensive look on her face.

"What is it?" he asked, worried.

"I'm pregnant," she answered.

AN: So what did you think? Comments, questions, suggestions? Reviews for an author are like cake for a fat kid.