Chapter 6

Luke Skywalker was silent during the shuttle ride. The other Jedi Masters were just as quiet. Beyond offering Luke their condolences, there was nothing any of them could do for him. He appreciated the space they were giving him. All he wanted was time to process his loss. Still, the ride was very uncomfortable.

When the shuttle flew under the shadow of the Jedi Temple, Luke broke away from his trance and looked through the viewport. As the landing pad approached, he saw that it was populated by the remaining masters, several knights, and the Solo family. No doubt they all wanted to offer their condolences, just like everyone else on the Reliant. Even though he wanted nothing more than to retreat to his quarters and sit in isolation, he decided to indulge them. After all, many of the Jedi had been friends with Ben.

After the shuttle had landed, the Jedi Masters were the first to descend the boarding ramp. Soon, Luke was the last person on board. He took a moment to prepare himself; he did not want to appear weak or emotional in front of everyone. Once he felt thoroughly composed, he walked down the ramp. Sure enough, everyone's eyes immediately trained themselves on him. Thankfully, that was all they did. No one moved or spoke as Luke strode towards them.

Ahsoka Tano was the first to move. She wrapped her arms around Luke and whispered, "If there's anything I can do for you…"

Luke replied, "I'll let you know. Right now, I just need some space. In the meantime, could you…?"

Ahsoka released Luke and nodded. "I can take care of everything. Take as much time as you need."

As Luke passed the other Jedi, they bowed their heads respectfully. He noticed that Jaina had taken her place with a group of knights she had trained with. Tesar Sebatyne, being a Barabel, did not fully grasp the concept of grieving, yet he knew enough to be silent. Lowbacca the Wookiee moaned softly. Zekk's face was difficult to read, due to the damage he had sustained on Mustafar, but Luke could guess that he was trying to appear mournful.

When Luke's eyes met Tahiri Veila's, she quickly averted her gaze. But, in that brief glimpse, Luke could see that she was in more pain than any of them. He surmised that she had been reminded too much of Anakin Solo's death. That was understandable. Ben had been like Anakin in so many ways, and losing him was just as painful. The difference was, Tahiri had been in love with Anakin, not Ben. And Ben, not Anakin, had been Luke's son.

Finally, Luke arrived at the Solos, who took turns hugging him. Han's smuggler charm had been replaced by stiff movements and a pale face, as though he had suddenly aged ten years. Leia's eyes were swollen, as though she had recently had a good, long cry. Allana was choking back tears, trying to be strong and brave in the face of tragedy. R2-D2 emitted a long, low whine, and C-3PO, who could rarely stop talking, had fallen silent.

Everyone watched silently as Luke walked past them into the temple, and toward his quarters. When he entered the room, he was struck by how empty it now felt.


Ahsoka looked around at the eight other Jedi Council members present. They all sat in a circle to symbolize their equality, even though it was well known that she and Luke were the most senior members. Luke's chair was directly opposite to the chamber doors. That being said, it was hard not to notice that it was the only empty one.

She cleared her throat and said, "In Master Skywalker's absence, he has named me Acting Grand Master." It did not feel that unusual to her. For twenty years, she had been the one who led the council meetings, with Luke as her senior advisor. After the Yuuzhan Vong War, they decided to reverse their roles, although Ahsoka still took charge whenever Luke was away on assignment. She continued, "I would like to begin these proceedings by discussing exactly what happened on Dromund Kaas. Master Katarn, would you like to start?"

Kyle Katarn answered, "Certainly. We arrived at Dromund Kaas and launched our fighters as planned. Due to the electrical activity in the atmosphere, radio communication between the fighters and the cruisers was impossible, so we were forced to rely on the Force for communication. Masters Skywalker, Hamner, and I were monitoring the battle from the Star Destroyers, while Masters Durron and Ramis led the fighter squadrons. Masters Sebatyne and Horn were part of the ground forces in the landing ships. Things were going quietly until we sensed confusion from everyone."

Kyp Durron explained, "When we reached what we believed was the Sith base, we noticed that it didn't actually look like a Sith base. It was just a bunch of long, wooden shacks and a few metal buildings surrounded by a wall. We were contacted by a man who called himself Governor Vonar Dykes. He told us that they were a refugee colony from the Yuuzhan Vong War. According to him, there were no Sith on the planet, and no one has bothered them until now."

Kyle picked up, "We sensed all of this from the Star Destroyers and ordered a retreat. That was followed by panic, and Master Skywalker nearly collapsed. He said that he couldn't sense Ben anymore. At the same time, we could sense that we were losing people."

"How were your ships being destroyed?" asked Cilghal.

Kyp shrugged. "Honestly, I'm still trying to figure that out. On our way back to the Star Destroyers, a bunch of our ships were struck by lightning, including Ben's. We told our pilots to stay away from the clouds. I guess some of them got careless."

Octa Ramis interrupted, "That's not true. We were nowhere near the clouds when the lightning struck."

"Then how do you explain what happened?" Kyp asked with rising frustration. "Did the lightning just decide to follow us beyond its range?"

Ahsoka held up a hand to calm him down. "There's no need for that, Master Durron. We will research some possibilities, see if they can shed any light on this problem. Right now, we need to focus on why we didn't find any Sith. Are you sure you were in the right place? Was there another place we could have looked?"

Kenth Hamner answered, "We didn't think there was any need. The colony was the only place we sensed where there were thousands of life-forms. Nowhere else came close to that."

Leia suggested, "Maybe the Sith were masking their presence somehow."

Ahsoka shook her head. "I don't see how that's possible. The only way we could have missed hundreds of people is if they all masked themselves. And not very many Force-users know how to do that."

Corran Horn pointed out, "Caedus did, and we know he taught Ben how to do it. Maybe he taught the Sith assassins, too."

Saba Sebatyne hissed, "This one thinks we should go back to Dromund Kaasz. Let us dig up every hole until the Sith come crawling out."

Cilghal rotated her body back and forth, the Mon Calamari equivalent of shaking her head. "It would take too long to thoroughly search the entire planet. If the Sith notice, they would either hide themselves better, flee to another location, or attack us when we are unprepared."

Leia made another suggestion. "Is it possible that the refugee colony actually was the Sith base? They could have been deceiving us."

Kyp replied, "If it was a Sith base, it was a very pitiful one. I highly doubt that the Sith would build a base with no defenses."

Kyle pointed out, "And we could sense the colonists' fear. That's not the kind of thing I would expect from a Sith."

Saba protested, "The Sith are masters of deception! This one insists that we go back!"

Kenth said, "I won't send anyone back there until we figure out what happened to our fighters. Besides, has it occurred to anyone else that the Sith may no longer be on Dromund Kaas? Perhaps some time since Sol Fadré was recruited, the Sith moved their base."

Everyone was silent as they considered that possibility. The Jedi could have been acting on outdated information. If that was the case, then they had no idea where to find the Sith, and the mission to Dromund Kaas had been for nothing.

At that moment, the chamber's comm system began to chime, indicating that someone was making contact with them. Ahsoka waved her hand and a hologram sprung up in the center of the room. The man's uniform identified him as an Alliance officer working in the Senate Building. "Pardon the interruption, Master Jedi. Chancellor Dain has requested that Master Skywalker meet him in his office as soon as possible."

All of the masters exchanged uncomfortable glances. There was only one reason why Don Dain would want a meeting at that moment. He must have found out about the Jedi's failed campaign on Dromund Kaas. No doubt he would use this incident to hurt the Jedi.

Ahsoka replied, "Tell the Chancellor that Master Skywalker is currently unavailable. I will attend in his stead."

"Very well, Master Tano. I will let him know." With that, the hologram disappeared, and the council was alone again.

Kyp was the first to express his frustration. "As if this day couldn't get any worse."

Kenth suggested, "Perhaps now is the time to tell the Chancellor everything. If we convince him of the threat, perhaps he will provide us with enough resources to find the Sith."

Everyone gave him incredulous looks. Leia said, "You know we can't do that. Dain already distrusts the Jedi. If we tell him that we've been keeping such large secrets from him, he'll use this to turn the Alliance against us. We're in a tight spot, politically. I suggest we proceed with caution."

Ahsoka agreed. "I'll tell him we were following a lead to the three Sith clones. He can't object to us wanting to catch the assassins from his inauguration. He still doesn't know about the Sith orb, Master Elppirc, or Master Fadré. I intend to keep it that way."


When Ahsoka arrived at Don Dain's office, the secretary told her that he was in another meeting, and that she should sit down and wait. She did… for what seemed like an hour. Why would the Chancellor request an immediate meeting, and then meet with someone else? When she was finally called into the office, she saw why. Don Dain was sitting at his desk, and his son, Commander Mek Dain, was standing across from him.

Ahsoka suppressed an urge to groan. Mek reminded Ahsoka of his father when he was younger. Back when Don was a commander in the Rebel Alliance, he openly disliked Luke and Ahsoka, and tried to convince everyone around him not to trust them. As he aged, he grew subtler to the point of feigning disinterest. But then Mek came along and turned out to be as vocal as his father had once been. She could handle one Dain on his own, but two of them was a different story.

Don noticed Ahsoka and stood up, using his cane to support himself. "Master Tano, thank you for coming. Please, sit down." Mek went to stand next to his father, and Ahsoka filled his recently-vacated seat. After Don had sat down, he got right to the point. "I heard that there was an incident on Dromund Kaas. Would you care to explain?"

Ahsoka had spent the past hour rehearsing in her head. With any luck, she should be able to shake Don off of the Jedi's tails. "Yes, we were following a lead regarding the assassins at your inauguration. Unfortunately the lead proved to be false, and a tragic accident cost us many lives… including Ben Skywalker's."

If the aged Gran's face was expressing sympathy, Ahsoka could not tell. Still, Don said, "I am very sorry to hear that. Please give Master Skywalker my condolences."

"I'm sure he will appreciate it." Ahsoka wondered how sincere he was actually being.

"There is a much more serious matter we must discuss. You took three Star Destroyers, fully complemented, and brought them to attack a planet without my knowledge or approval."

Without missing a beat, Ahsoka explained, "We wanted to tell you, but we felt that we needed to act quickly to catch the assassins. Going through you would've taken too much time. That's why we asked Admiral Mo'Ari to help us. I hope you can understand, Your Excellency."

Mek replied before his father could. "No, we do not understand. You circumvented military protocol and nearly caused a diplomatic incident! Why do you Jedi insist on breaking the rules? Perhaps you feel they don't apply to you?"

Ahsoka frowned. "That's not true. The Jedi Council agreed that timing was too important to waste on your protocol, so we took a more direct approach."

"Yes, you made Admiral Mo'Ari break protocol so you would appear blameless!"

Ahsoka stood up and said, "Actually, Admiral Mo'Ari was well within his rights to lend us his fleet. I'm not an expert on military protocol, but I do believe it says something along these lines: 'If an admiral determines that immediate military action is necessary, he may forgo the chain of command and dedicate any resources at his disposal to the situation.'"

Don nodded his head. "That is true. Which is why no disciplinary action will be taken against him. However, it turned out that military action was not required on Dromund Kaas. He should not have acted until he was certain that there was a threat. He will be placed under probation for six months to ensure that he does not make that same mistake again."

Ahsoka wanted to protest. Mo'Ari should not have been punished for the Jedi's actions. On the other hand, probation was not so bad; he would still be able to act as an admiral, so long as he followed procedure.

Don intertwined his fingers and leaned forward in his chair. "If I may ask, what exactly led you to believe that the Sith were on Dromund Kaas?"

Ahsoka had expected that question. It had taken a while, but she had already come up with an acceptable answer. "After the inauguration, the Jedi have been working tirelessly to discover any information we can on the assassins. Recently, we uncovered an old transmission between one of the assassins and a spy within the Galactic Alliance Guard. They mentioned that their base was on Dromund Kaas."

If Don had eyebrows, he would have raised them. "The GAG was dissolved after Jacen Solo's death. Are you saying that the assassins have been active since before then?"

That Ahsoka had not expected. Quickly she came up with an answer. "It would appear that way, but we haven't found any records of them actually doing anything until the inauguration."

"Ah, I see." Clearly, he was not convinced. "May I see this transmission?"

Once again, Ahsoka was at a loss for words. She could not show Don the transmission without revealing Sol Fadré's treachery. That would only lead to more questions, and then the entire story would unravel. "Unfortunately, you can't. The spy deleted the message and covered his tracks well. The transmission was so degraded that we were barely able to get any information from it." That was a terrible excuse, Ahsoka knew, but she had to say something to ward off suspicion. Clearly, that did not work.

Mek observed, "And yet you recovered enough information to tell you what you needed to know. What a coincidence." His three eyelids narrowed and his eyestalks leaned forward so that he was glaring at Ahsoka. In turn, she gave him a cold stare.

Don stood up. "Thank you for clearing this up for me, Master Tano. In the future, you should follow protocol so we can avoid more of these meetings."

Ahsoka stood up and shook Don's hand. "Of course, Chancellor. Thank you for your… understanding." She gave Mek a curt nod before leaving the office.

On the flight back to the Jedi Temple, all Ahsoka could think about was how badly that meeting went. All she had done was raise the Dains' suspicions. She knew that their retaliation would come soon.


As soon as Ahsoka was gone, Mek wasted no time in spewing out all of his comments. "This is getting out of hand, Father! The Jedi are keeping too many secrets! First, the assassins at the inauguration being able to use the Force, and the Jedi's inability to deal with them. They probably staged the whole thing to make us afraid! And then, they ask you for ships to find an artifact on Kamino, yet they don't tell you what the artifact is, or why they want it. Then, your bodyguard, Sol Fadré dies, and the Jedi don't give us any details. And now, they break the rules to attack a planet! It's obvious that they're trying to take over the Alliance! Why don't we act?"

Don raised a calming hand. "There could be any number of logical explanations for their behavior. We can't make a move against the Jedi without sufficient evidence. We need the support of the people, so we need to convince them that destroying the Jedi is justified."

"How do you plan to do that? The people think the Jedi are saints! Besides, the Jedi will be extra careful not to tip us off. We'll never find proof." Mek leaned in toward his father. "Let me deal with the Jedi. If I come under fire for it, I can claim that I acted on my own. You would not be implicated. I can get you your revenge!"

"As noble as that sounds, I'm not willing to risk you just to satisfy an old grudge." Don sat back in his chair and thought. Slowly, he began to smile as an idea came to him. "I may know of a way to get information without the Jedi knowing. I have an old… acquaintance… who has demonstrated the abilities necessary in an effective spy."

"Can you trust him?"

Don scoffed. "About as well as you can trust any bounty hunter. But I know he can keep a secret. In fact, he is the only person alive – besides you – who knows what I used to be."


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