Sioux: A very good question. Since nobody but Tenel Ka, Womprat, and Tahiri know about his injury, anyone else just looks at him like he's slacking off, not that he's recovering/a liability to any mission. But Han and Leia got along without the Force for years and Jacen was trained by some of the best of the best…so he's not really useless in the field. Check out chapter 7 of "Destiny's Call" – Eriana explains her history herself ;)

Onimi: Don't worry, Sekava's got a few more crazy ideas before this story is done.

Lelouch: Thanks! It'll either be really good or really dreadful. I'm not entirely sure yet. If it is horrible, I might just disappear to escape any potential shame…

Seven years had passed without a single Bothan Interplanetary Swordfighting Competition, mostly due to the continued efforts of the Bothans to carry out their genocidal declaration of Ar'Krai against the Yuuzhan Vong. It was eventually decided by the organizers to reintroduce the tournament as a means to train the Bothan people for continued Ar'Krai. Relative to tournaments held prior to the Yuuzhan Vong war, the new Bothan Interplanetary Sword Fighting Competition drew a very small number of participants, but spectators were as enthusiastic as ever to see the tournament return. A mere seventeen competitors had registered, and an eighteenth had come as a late entrant hours after the opening ceremony. Reporters blamed the lacklustre turnout on the long delay since the last tournament and the lack of skilled swordfighters across the galaxy after the war, but did not even consider the unpopular desire of the Bothan people to exterminate the Yuuzhan Vong.

Favoured to win was a young Bothan no more than eighteen years old, Masakra Kre'sal. The Masakra story was a classic rags-to-riches tale where the orphaned young man learned the classic art of sword fighting at a local community club after the Yuuzhan Vong war came to a close, and from there his skills and popularity took flight. He quickly surpassed his masters and got into the University of Fre'brg on a scholarship. While classes in political science intrigued him, Masakra lived for fencing. By the time he was sixteen he was entering inter-continental tournaments and raking in the prizes that came with his victories. Masakra had become something of a celebrity, a well-known name across Bothawui as the days to the Interplanetary competition disappeared.

It was no stretch of the imagination then that the first person to face him, a scrawny young human, was practically shaking in fear as they crossed swords in salute.

"I want a clean fight," the referee said. "From both of you."

The young human nodded and put his helmet on – a mesh screen that would allow him to see, but protect him from injury. The helmet, and the entire suit he was wearing, was sensitive to an electrical charge that would emit from the tip of his opponent's sword upon contact. Likewise, Masakra's suit was sensitive to the young human's sword.

"Allez!" The referee shouted in the long lost, but traditional language of fencing.

Masakra immediately lunged toward his opponent, catching the nervous human off guard. The human jumped back to avoid the point-strike, but dropped his foil when it impacted on Masakra's. A quick double step from Maskara claimed the first point of the match, lighting up the score board, and the crowd cheered. Unable to resist the energy of the crowd, the Bothan turned to the crowd and gestured for more noise. The roar was deafening by the time that they were ready for the next bout, leaving both fencers barely able to hear the call to start. Masakra stepped forward twice, a thrust with each step, and retreated a large step as the human parried and thrust in return. Masakra easily deflected the blow and returned with a lunge, but his opponent slid the foil in a perfect block while standing his ground, slipping his foil along Maskara's to claim his own first point against the Bothan's arm. At the start of next bout, Masakra attacked with a lightning fast display of swordsmanship, catching his opponent's foil and scraping the tip of his own weapon across his chest for the second point. The crowd exploded in screams and cheers, basking in Masakra's glory.

"Prêt?" the referee asked as the two fighters set for their next bout. "Allez!"

To Masakra's surprise, his human opponent disappeared. Or, more accurately, was somehow pushed aside without any form of intervention that he could see. The crowd went completely silent, and a man in a white fencing outfit approached, clapping slowly. He held a foil against his chest under his arm, and two metal cylinders hung from his otherwise normal fencing outfit.

"Very good, furball," The man said in a sadistic, angry voice. "You have much potential in you."

"Who are you?" Masakra demanded.

"You and I, together, will do great things," the man said, ignoring the question. He removed his helmet to expose a human face with brown hair and red and yellow eyes. "A new legacy of the Sith await us, and we need only take it."

"Sith!" The referee ran from the mysterious human, but the foil the man had been holding flew into the referee's back, killing him instantly. The crowd began screaming in terror and a stampede for the doors erupted.

"Come with me, young Bothan," the crazy man said. "I will show you glory beyond anything you will ever know here."

Masakra looked to the dead referee and the screaming crowds.

"We will be hunted," Masakra said.

"No, we will be the hunters," the human said. "I am Sekava, one chosen by the Sith to bring freedom from the Jedi. Together we will rule and take what we want. Nobody can stop us."

"They can," Maskara said, gesturing to the Bothan Police entering the stadium.

"If I can kill them, will you come with me?" the man asked, a vicious glint in his eye.

"Yeah, okay," Maskara said sarcastically. "Knock yourself out."

Sekava turned around and launched a volley of lightning from his fingertips, and in seconds the smell of scorched fur and flesh travelled to Maskara's nose, filling him with awe.

"You can learn this, young Bothan," Sekava said when he was satisfied the police were dead. Lightning still crawled up his arms awaiting his command like an angry electric snake. "Or you can die. Your pick."

~! #$%^&*()

"Go," Tenel Ka had said. She had not even hesitated. Jacen had protested, insisting he needed to stay to protect the family, but Tenel Ka was adamant that they would be fine. Jacen had ended up putting up so much fuss that he contacted his aunt and uncle directly and told them to personally come and visit Tenel Ka for the duration of his absence; otherwise he would permanently renounce his membership as a Jedi. If they said no, then Jacen would not have been aboard the Solo Quest travelling through hyperspace toward Lannik, a planet just outside of former Hutt Space, and listening to his sister drone on about vague details on various ongoing Jedi operations.

So far Jacen had learned that the Jedi Temple was well-hidden and only the Jedi Masters knew of its location. Even the students at the temple did not know where they were.

Her news about Drathan's deteriorating condition did not surprise him as much as she had hoped – he was obviously staying better informed about the affairs outside the galaxy than she initially thought, though how he knew such a closely guarded secret was beyond her. He also knew that the Jedi not at the temple were living lives of obscurity with falsified IDs to pick up jobs on various planets. Some operated as night-time vigilantes while others had discretely joined police forces. Others still were running supplies, making lives as traders or smugglers operating on either side of the Jedi-Sith border.

"Any well-known Jedi have either found jobs within the Jedi Coalition Defence Forces or are working on special assignments for the Council," Jaina said. "Corran is overseeing the military defence and starship design on Corellia, should Centrepoint fail or a fleet be needed. Ben and Lowie have gone to Kashyyyk under assumed names to aid in their defence. All in all, the Jedi have largely disappeared but are still trying to do what they can. It's like we're a secret society more than anything now."

"That's great, but you still didn't answer my question." Jacen said. "Why couldn't we bring Astro along?"

"We need to be obscure, dummy. A vornskr isn't exactly a domestic pet. People know you have one."

"I could've shaved him and told people he was a Tarkasian Swamp Lizard," Jacen retorted. "They're largely harmless even though they look vicious."

"Shave your vornskr?" Jaina asked. "Do you even listen to yourself?"

Jacen sighed and leaned back against the captain's seat, staring out at the blue and black tunnel of hyperspace.

"You know I don't want to be here," Jacen said helplessly. "It should be me with my wife while she's a month away from giving birth, not my aunt and uncle. Uncle Luke can handle this situation better than I can."

"You're the only friend of Eriana's that we know and can trust," Jaina reminded him. "I don't know what kind of relationship you two had, but you're the closest thing to her Jedi Master. She isn't on the best of terms with Uncle Luke even when they agree on something. Everyone wants you to talk some sense into her. Nobody else knows her that well."

"How can I talk sense into someone I will likely end up agreeing with because I trust her implicitly?" Jacen asked, finally facing her. "Even if I do end up disagreeing with her, which is highly unlikely, how can I stop her? This is her decision."

"Piracy isn't far off from the Dark Si..."

"Don't get into philosophy with me," Jacen warned. He stood up and moved to the door to emphasize his point. "There is no darkness in Eriana's heart. If anyone would know that, it would be me."

Jacen left without waiting for her response and retreated to his quarters. He dropped into his desk chair and waited a moment before he opened a drawer on his desk. He reached into grab the portable scanner, but his hand froze just above it. Instead, he picked up a data card that was lying between it and the future Eriana's Corusca gem ring. After a moment of staring at it, he plugged it in to the holoplayer, found a specific file, and pressed play.

"Mute audio," Jacen ordered and sat back to watch. The video that HK-47 had made in the future for him of his descendants played before his eyes. As the video showed him meeting family members that would not be born for another eighty years, part of him wondered if they would ever exist now, if that future would ever occur. Had he changed the future so much that they would never exist? Or did they cease to exist the moment he returned?

After two minutes he stopped the recording and pulled up the list of files from the datacard. Two days before, while searching the files from HK, he had found a reference to a talisman that Masakra had stolen from Soora Bulq to slow his aging. Since then he had been scouring the documents one at a time for more information, and now seemed as good a time as any to continue the search.

~! #$%^&*()

The mysterious man amazed Masakra. Not only had he gotten them to the ship unscathed, he had slaughtered anyone in his path with the two glowing red lightsabers. And, even more amazingly, he had offered to pass on all of his knowledge.

"You and I will go far," Sekava said as they broke orbit of Bothawui.

Maskara barely noticed Sekava's words. His first time in a space ship, his first time in orbit above the planet he grew up on, left him in stunned silence.

I'm finally leaving it behind. Masakra thought. A new exciting life. A life with meaning.

"Wake up, kid," Sekava said. "I didn't bring you along to drool on the upholstery."

"Why did you bring me?" Masakra asked.

"We need to hunt," Sekava said. "Jedi have been hunting me because I'm hunting one of them. Together, we'll kill them all off."

"Jedi?" Maskara asked. His heart rate almost doubled. "You want us to kill Jedi? They're, like, invincible."

Sekava laughed and got up from his chair. He pulled a lightsaber off his white fencing suit and activated it, the bright red blade captivating Masakra's stare.

"The Jedi are nothing more than troublesome monks bent on controlling the galaxy without people knowing what they're up to," Sekava sneered. "We are the true invincible ones, the Sith Empire. We will rule the galaxy together."

"I-I don't know anything about the Sith," Masakra stuttered. "I-"

"You know politics!" Sekava roared. He swung the lightsaber to Masakra's neck and glared at him with the yellow and red eyes of the devil. "You will be the leader of our new Empire that we will build together. I will create an army that will crush the Jedi and anyone that stands in our way, and you will keep the people in line."

"How..." Masakra coughed from the fumes of melting fur wafting up from the glowing red blade centimetres from his throat. "How are we going to do that?"

"We need to kill Jacen Solo," Sekava said and deactivated the blade. "And to do that, we need information on where he is. We catch the whelp he has sent after me. She will know where we can kill him."

"And where do we find her?" Masakra asked.

"She," Sekava pointed to the viewport in front of them. "Will come to us."

~! #$%^&*()

The Squawking Mynock dropped from hyperspace and was immediately attacked by a light transport. Rapid blaster bolts hammered the outer hull and the port wing, shaking the ship and setting off a dozen different alarms. Lanos slammed the throttle to full and rolled the ship away from the attacker while Tahiri activated the shield and called all hands to the turrets.

"Port blasters and fore dorsal turret are down. I think he hit a power relay," Tahiri reported. "He's coming back around. Our shields are weak on starboard."

Lanos slammed his left foot on the rudder to swing the ship around and fired at the attacker but his shots went wild. The strafing run dropped a line of blaster bolts down the length of the ship, weakening the shields and shaking everyone, but a steady stream of blaster bolts from the bow dorsal turret hammered the shields of the enemy craft.

"How do you like that?" Trigger's voice echoed through the ship as Lanos twisted the ship to the starboard. He exposed the ventral side of the ship to allow Parmis and Blade to hammer away at the Sith ship using the lower two turrets and swung back in time to launch a pair of shots from the remaining three wing-mounted laser turrets. Just as the ship got close and was firing wildly, Tahiri dropped a couple of shadow bombs and Lanos pulled away to let Parmis and Blade take another few shots. The shadow bombs rocked both ships, but the relatively powerful shields on the bottom of the Mynock protected it from any damage.

"I'm here," Squeak finally said from behind Tahiri and Lanos. "I'll start slicing their computers."

"I've equalized shield strength," Tahiri said. "Overall strength is fifty-two percent."

Lanos brought the ship around again and throttled up to full. The enemy ship was making a run for it.

"Their hyperdrive is powering up," Tahiri reported. "And they're gone."

"Got it!" Squeak exclaimed. "I got it before they jumped! The destination is in the navicomputer."

"We're going after them," Lanos reported to everyone. Without another word, he activated the hyperdrive.

! #$%^&*()

Jaina opened yet another hidden compartment in the wall of the cargo area and began to slide training staffs between the structural supports so they would stand on end. After their decision to infiltrate the Black Vornskrs by becoming smugglers taking a risky jaunt through their territory, Jacen and Jaina needed to change the training area back into a cargo hold.

"So, what's the problem?" Jaina asked, taking the training staffs from her brother. "Why am I doing all the Force work? You're not on another of your anti-Force boycotts are you?"

"I just found I've become so dependent on it that I need a break," Jacen said elusively. "Another couple weeks and I should feel like getting back into it."

"Weeks?" Jaina paused from her work to stare at him. "You're going into a life or death situation and you don't feel like using the Force?"

"Mom and Dad got along fine without it for years," Jacen reminded her. "Maybe there are things I can learn from not using the Force."

"You never cease to amaze me," Jaina sighed and resumed hiding the training gear. "Can you get those mats in here?"

"Yeah, they should fit."

Jacen rolled up the corner of the spongy mat and pressed a button on the control panel that was hidden underneath. Within three seconds the mat compressed itself flat and filled the air of the cargo bay with a weird plasticy smell. Together the twins folded the almost-flimsy thin mat and stuffed it into the compartment with the training staffs. Jaina locked the compartment down with the Force and faced her brother.

"Your ship is designed for Force users but you're not using it?" She asked. "Seems a little dumb, if you ask me."

"I didn't ask," Jacen pointed out. "It looks like a cargo bay again. Thanks."

"I can't believe how much you can fit in these compartments. No wonder this was a smuggling ship."

A clicking noise that Jacen recognized as Womprat rolling over the door track caught the twins' attention.

"Interruption: Master, I believe it is time for that upgrade you mentioned."

"Go to my quarters. I'll be right there."

"Yes, master."

"Upgrade?"

Jacen pulled a chip from his pocket. "Behavioural modifications. I want to make sure he'll behave but still be fully functional if we need him. He thinks he is getting his full assassination programming back."

Jacen left her behind and returned to his quarters where Womprat was already waiting for him. Jacen closed the door and sat on his bed facing the droid.

"Before we get too deep into this mission, I think we need to have a little discussion regarding an old acquaintance of yours."

"Master, I do not believe I am aware of whom you might want to speak about but I do have some interesting tales about..."

"Revan."

The lights on Womprat's dome froze as if his programming had stopped functioning.

"Master's identity confirmed. Query: How does the master know The Maker's name?"

"You told me it in the future," Jacen explained. "You said it would unlock your memories to me."

"Correction: Master, it is not to you my memories are being unlocked, but to me," Womprat explained. The lights on his dome flashed at an alarming rate. "Oh, how I love the cunningness of my future self. I believe we need to change course immediately."

"Why?"

"If my memories are correct, I have gained knowledge of a replacement body on Nar Shadda. And I do wish to share my full functionalities with you, Master."

"You told me that the name 'Revan' would unlock some information for me," Jacen protested. "I want to know more about your history."

"Offer: Perhaps I could negotiate with you, Master," Womprat said. "If you allow me to retrieve my new body from Nar Shadda, I will tell you more about my past."

"Counteroffer:" Jacen replied. "You can go to Nar Shadda to find your new body as soon as we find the opportunity and, regardless if it is found or not, you tell me what I want to know."

"You drive a hard bargain, Master, but I accept your terms."

Jacen fed the data card into Womprat's reader slot. Several lights turned from green to red.

"New programming for the upcoming mission," Jacen said. "Go ahead and process it. I've included some other data I want you to search through. Search requirements are in the first file."

"Understood, Master. Will there be anything else?"

"No, I have a few things to attend to."

Womprat left the room and Jacen pulled the scanner out of his desk drawer.

99% to Target

Almost there, Jacen though. Almost there.

~! #$%^&*()

The Squawking Mynock dropped out of hyperspace again and both ships started firing at each other without hesitation. Blade and Trigger hit the target while Parmis reoriented his turret and Lanos spun the ship to avoid fire, but repeated blaster bolt strikes dropped their shield strength. As the enemy flew past, Lanos noticed some blaster scoring on the lower hull plating.

"We're taking hits," Tahiri reported. "Starboard launcher is damaged and our hyperdrive is out."

"Keep firing!" Lanos ordered, "His shields are fluctuating."

"So are ours," Tahiri said. "Squeak, see if you can get the hyperdrive back online in case we need to run. It looks like he hit the power conduit, not the drive itself. You should be able to run a bypass."

"On it!" Squeak disappeared down the main corridor and Tahiri launched a couple more shadow bombs. Using the Force she flung the torpedoes at the enemy ship while Trigger kept on his steady firing pattern from above.

"Oh, naughty, little Jedi," Sekava's taunting voice said over the communication system. A pair of blaster bolts destroyed the shadow bombs and Sekava's ship twisted out of the line of blaster bolts. "That isn't playing fair, now is it? Come catch me if you can."

"He's heading for the asteroid field," Lanos said, throttling up and following the mad Sith.

"Let me fly," Tahiri said. "I can anticipate the asteroids with the Force."

Lanos switched controls with Tahiri and brought up the targeting reticule. Once it locked on, Lanos fired a torpedo. Surprisingly, it hit and sent the other ship into a spin, but the damage appeared minimal – his shields were set to full back.

"It's hard to believe this moron is such good prey," Lanos commented and fired another torpedo as Sekava entered the asteroid belt. They watched as the torpedo twisted through the asteroid field after their target, but it impacted on a large asteroid, sending shards of rocks outward in a starburst pattern.

Tahiri sent the ship in after Sekava and immediately felt a rock hit the port wing.

Focus, Tahiri reminded herself and let the Force guide her.

She fired blaster bolts from the remaining lasers and Blade attacked as she could, but Sekava was cleverly avoiding both their attacks and the asteroids. The Squawking Mynock was not faring quite so well. At about twice the size of the Sith's skiff, it could not fit through all the gaps and manoeuvre around the asteroids nearly as well.

"We have to get out of here," Lanos said as a micro asteroid bounced off the front window and cracked it. "We'll get pulverized out here."

Tahiri reluctantly agreed and turned the ship around to follow the flow of asteroids to safely exit the field. The sensors showed Sekava's ship jump to hyperspace soon after they exited the field. Squeak and the others were already conducting repairs, but Tahiri knew it would be a while for them to get the ship back up to fighting shape. She rested back against the co-pilot seat back and stared at the cracked window. He got away again.

"We'll get him," Lanos said, practically reading her thoughts. "He can't hide forever."

A/N: Yeah, I used French. It is the international language of fencing ;)

For future reference, a couple chapters may be longer (~7151 words) and others will be shorter (~1179 words). I feel dividing it any other way will either leave cliffhangers that will result in a bounty being put on my head or give too quick a 'passage of time.' I'll take another look at it later, but right now I like my divisions. Consider each chapter to be a day, like I did in Dawn of Chaos. There is a week long break at one point, but I won't make you wait seven Fridays for it to continue.