It took Mara and Jaina - who decided to move on from their emotional bonding and return to professional detachment for the rest of their hike - a few hours to reach the Solo Quest. There, they found the YT-2400 joined by a hovertruck with a large cab that read STARSHIP FUEL, and over the Quest's fuel section, Jacen and a yellow-skinned Dathomiri Witch were working on fixing it, each with one tool in one of their hands. When Mara and Jaina arrived, the Witch dropped the tool she had into the wooden chest below before using the Force to call up another tool.
Jacen soon stopped and looked up from what he was doing to find his aunt and sister standing there.
"Hey," he called. "Yuseif and I are just finishing up repairs to the Solo Quest. After that, we'll have her filled back up and we can return Nom-" He cut himself off from saying the Yuuzhan Vong's name in front of the Witch. "We can return to our regular duties."
Mara looked at Yuseif the Dathomiri Witch and found nothing in the woman's outward expression or Force-presence to indicate that she suspected anything from Jacen cutting himself off like that. Still, Mara understood how certain Force-users were able to hide their thoughts and feelings well away from other Force-users; Vergere was certainly one of them, as Luke had told Mara.
She refrained from thinking anymore about Luke for the moment; again, she needed to be calm and stable right now. And even with that calmness and stability washing over her now, Mara still wished, or at least half-wished, Jacen to have said Nom Anor's name in front of the Witch. That way, the response would finally do away with that rat bastard...
Then again, it was probably a bad idea to let anyone on this planet know that they were harboring Yuuzhan Vong, otherwise Nom Anor, Kun Eruk, and Peraff Dulaana wouldn't be the Dathomiri Witches' only victims. After the Vong's unsuccessful but nevertheless brutal invasion of Dathomir, Mara imagined that the Witches were just as willing to kill anyone who was a sympathizer of the former invaders, never mind the Vong themselves, so the Witches would probably have no problem of executing Jacen, Mara, and Jaina.
"It's done," Yuseif said after a few more moments.
She then dropped the tool she was wielding back down into the chest below before she, too, leaped off the Quest's hull to land in a crouch on the loamy ground. Yuseif picked up the chest with one hand, as if all that weight wasn't causing her any difficulties, and she used her free hand to use the Force on the starship fuel hovertruck.
From the 'truck, a hose came out and snaked its way through the air to lodge itself into the intake hole that gave the Quest its fuel. A second later, starship fuel began pumping into the YT-2400, and it took only a couple of minutes for the ship to fill up.
"Thank you for all your help," Jacen said to Yuseif as he took out his datapad from his belt. Once he had it activated, he began typing away at it while continuing with, "I'm paying you right now as we speak, as agreed."
"Excellent," Yuseif replied.
After a moment, Jacen said, "And you've been paid, Yuseif. And, again, thank you for your help."
"Are you sure you do not wish to stay, Jedi Solo?" the Witch asked. "As Sister Peoult elaborated, you are welcome."
"Jedi Solo?" Jaina exclaimed, looking to her brother. "What, you didn't tell her?"
Jacen looked at his sister with anxiety even as Yuseif was looking at Jaina with skepticism. The Witch then turned back to Jacen, who was now smiling at her nervously.
"What is she talking about?" the Witch inquired in a raised tone.
Jacen's nervous smile gradually died away under Yuseif's withering glare and he sighed in defeat.
"I had resigned from the Jedi Order," he admitted, "after the war."
Yuseif's expression became one of disbelief. "Why?"
"Because I couldn't save my uncle from dying," Jacen stated. "I was too late. And I wasn't worthy of being a Jedi any longer; so I began a sojourn to discover myself, basically."
"It sounds, then, that you have all the more reason to stay here on Dathomir," Yuseif commented. Whatever she felt about Jacen's resignation, or his prior failure to save Luke Skywalker, was kept from her objective, straightforward tone "We can help you with whatever you need, especially when it comes to spiritual matters."
"Thank you, but... I already have a previous engagement."
"In your sojourn? What is the hurry?" Yuseif asked.
Jacen tried to come up with an answer that wouldn't make him out to be a stammering moron in front of the Witch.
"He is late in his meeting with the Force sect he was about to meet," Mara spoke up. "It was a prearranged matter that was broken up by the attack by those ships that you helped us defeat."
"Oh," Yuseif said after returning her attention from Mara back to Jacen. "Then why did you not simply say so?"
"Because he's an idiot," Jaina said. "My brother's as good with words and decisions as a Hutt participating at a footrace."
Yuseif looked at Jaina in askance. "I can hardly say that about your brother."
"Well, I can," Jaina replied with crossed arms across her chest.
Yuseif's gaze on Jaina deepened with concern and she retained it as she looked back and forth between the twins.
"This does not seem like a healthy relationship that siblings should have," Yuseif observed in the same objective tone that now had a slight twinge of subjective ire in it. "Even some Witches here on Dathomir who still view traditional gender roles as the norm would say that even a sister should be somewhat respectful to her subordinate brother."
Jaina groaned in frustration. "Look, we're already late in delivery, so could we just please-"
"Delivery?" Yuseif asked. "What delivery? Are you not with Jacen Solo? Are you not part of his sojourn? I do not understand how a delivery is a part of a sojourn? And a delivery of what exactly, may I ask?"
Jaina, who had a flicker of regret on her expression for nearly giving away their mission, opened her mouth to retort, only for Mara to hold up a hand to stop her niece from saying anything that would get them in real trouble.
"It is a matter between us," Mara said, "that we prefer not to discuss."
In other words, it was a formal and polite way of what Jaina was about to have said: None of your business.
"Very well," Yuseif said, unfazed. She turned back to Jacen. "But, again, if you should ever change your mind, feel free to return anytime."
"I'll consider it," Jacen replied.
Yuseif then turned and headed past Mara and Jaina to disappear back into the woods.
"Looks like you two made the hike for nothing," Jacen told his relatives. "We can get off right now. I can drop you back to wherever you landed your ships." His expression shifted from one of simple askance to that of regret. "Oh, yeah, that's right; Nom Anor's aboard." He grimaced as he looked back at Mara and Jaina. "I take it you don't wanna be anywhere near him, eh?"
"Oh, I for one wanna be near him," Jaina said darkly. "With my lightsaber through his heart."
"I find it hard to disagree," Mara backed up stoically.
"And as if it weren't enough reason to be on the same ship with you," Jaina continued to her brother.
Jacen's earnest expression dropped to one of incredulity. "You mean you weren't worried about me when we were being attacked by the Bothans, Jaina? I felt your distress for my well-being through the Force during the battle; you can try to cut me off all you want, but we still have our twin bond, and nothing's gonna change that, even if one of us dies."
Jacen sighed as he continued. "Look, I know you still resent me for missing Uncle Luke's funeral, but pretending I'm some kind of scumbag lowlife is a lie that you surely can't fool yourself with."
"You don't know what you're talkin' about," Jaina growled.
"Alright, alright, let's break this up," Mara said. "Jacen, if you don't mind, you can wait for us up in orbit while Jaina and I return to the spaceport where we left our ships."
"Fine by me," Jacen replied, taking his scrutinizing gaze away from his sister before turning and heading up the Solo Quest's boarding ramp.
Mara and Jaina simultaneously turned away and began heading back through the forest.
Neither of them spoke for a long while, but like before, when they began their hike to Jacen, it was Mara who broke the silence.
"He's right, you know."
Jaina looked at her aunt in surprise.
"Don't get me wrong, I hate his guts as much as you do," Mara continued. "It seems when it comes to Jacen, everything's about him, even his failures. He even managed to make your uncle's... passing... about himself. Sometimes, it's hard to tell where Jacen's inferiority complex ends and where his ego begins.
"But you and I still care about him, Jaina. We still love him. And sometimes, in between my grief for Luke, I regret agreeing with you and your parents in disowning Jacen like we did; because he's family, and we can't afford to lose anymore family, I'm afraid. We lost Anakin, we lost Luke; hell, we even lost Chewbacca, and for what little time I knew him, I even considered him family like you and your brothers did."
"That still doesn't excuse him for being so selfish and conceited," Jaina argued.
"Perhaps not," Mara said. "But does that excuse us for leaving him in the dust? He's lost just as much in the war as we had, Jaina. Probably more so, I'd argue. At least, in the times when Chewie and Anakin died, we still had each other; you, me, your parents, your uncle. But Jacen didn't have the luxury of being with loved ones after Myrkr; he was surrounded, tortured and brainwashed by Vergere and the Yuuzhan Vong, unable to do anything about it. He'd gone through a hell that very few could ever possibly understand... I doubt even I could.
"Does that relieve Jacen of accountability? No, it doesn't. But to treat Jacen like a pariah, especially when he's probably going through harder times now than either of us - what with his own grief for your uncle, not to mention being disowned by us and being forced to quit the Jedi Order... I think we need to come to accept him back into the family, Jaina, if for his own good rather than our own."
There was a long pause before Jaina replied. "You can accept him back, Aunt Mara. You can do what you want; I have no right to stop you. But don't expect me to let him back into the family... at least..."
"At least what? Until he apologizes for being so selfish and conceited, as you say he is?" Mara couldn't help but smirk. "Jaina, in his mind, he thought it would have been selfish and conceited to have attended your uncle's funeral. To him, it'd be like asking to apologize for using the Force when it's as natural to him as it is for the both of us."
"Then I guess I won't be accepting him back as my brother," Jaina concluded staunchly.
Mara didn't know what else to say, so she didn't say anything more as she and Jaina continued back for the spaceport.
By the time they arrived back a few hours later, during which dusk was settling upon this side of the planet, Mara and Jaina stopped in their tracks once they saw Dathomiri Witches leap on down from the spaceport's roof and land in cat-like crouches on the ground before the two Jedi.
Mara and Jaina turned and found more Witches dropping in from the treetops from above. The same occurred on both sides until the Jedi were effectively boxed in.
"If you wish to prolong your lives," the red-skinned Witch standing before the spaceport said, "you will enter the spaceport with us."
"Aunt Mara?" Jaina whispered to her elder.
"I think we should do what she says," Mara announced out loud for all the Witches here. "We can't fight them all at once; we'll be killed easily."
But even as she made that announcement, she sent out a small, subtle Force-nudge to Jaina that she hoped that none of the Witches would be able to perceive in any way.
The nudge basically told Jaina to reach out to Jacen through their twin bond and ask for his help.
Mara wasn't sure if Jaina succeeded in the task as they were led into the spaceport.
And there, they found at least one Witch holding Kun Eruk and Peraff Dulaana on their knees of the spaceport's floor, the Yuuzhan Vong's hands behind their heads. Both aliens had their hands bound behind them; Eruk's expression was one of grim resolve while Dulaana was obviously panicky, sweating, and trying not to break down into hysterics.
The red-skinned Witch who addressed Mara and Jaina outside walked up between the two Yuuzhan Vong and delivered one smack across each of their faces. The Witch then whirled around to face Mara and Jaina and pointed at Dulaana.
"The spaceport manager found this one through one of the Skipray Blastboat's viewports," the Witch explained. "We were called in to apprehend him; we then investigated the other ship and found her." She pointed at Eruk before her own hand. "The only reason we kept either of them alive was so that you could explain to us why they are."
Both Mara and Jaina were silent for a moment; Mara desperately hoped that Jaina was able to let Jacen know that they were in trouble, regardless of the former's resentment to the latter.
"Well?!" the red-skinned Witch intoned.
"The Jedi do not condone genocide," Mara spoke up. "As you may know, the Order assisted the Galactic Alliance into relocating the remnants of the Yuuzhan Vong to the living world of Zonama Sekot, which took them back to the Unknown Regions for their own safety. The female one is a warrior who escaped the relocation; the man was a Shaper who was part of the reconstruction effort on Coruscant who attempted to betray the Galactic Alliance. We were taking them to Zonama Sekot where they can live in peace.
"And since you, the Witches of Dathomir, are valiant allies of the Jedi Order, you will comply with us, release those Yuuzhan Vong back into the custody of my niece and myself and let us go."
The red-skinned Witch was as deathly silent as her sisters-in-arms around her. But after a few moments, she broke the silence to say, "Jedi Master Streen and fellow Witch Kirana Ti, both of whom are loyal Jedi and whom have founded the Praxeum on this world, have condoned the Jedi Order's efforts of relocating the Yuuzhan Vong instead of exterminating them. Not every Witch has been in support of this ideal; I can assure you that not a single Witch in the gathering around you supports it."
"You will be going against a decision that was readily agreed upon between the Galactic Alliance and the Jedi Order," Mara pointed out. "Should you do that-"
The red-skinned Witch held up a hand to silence Mara.
"We can handle whatever disputes that will proceed from these monsters' deaths," the Witch proclaimed arrogantly.
"You don't get it," Mara said. "If you kill them, then my niece and I will have no choice but to report you to the Galactic Alliance and the Jedi Order."
The Witch smirked. "We can kill you before you do."
Mara countered with her own smirk. "And you think that will stop any investigation as to what would happen to my niece and myself?"
Jaina nodded. "If you kill either of us, my mother will feel it through the Force from across the galaxy. She will know where we died, she will tell the GA and the Jedi Order what happened, and you'll all be in trouble."
The Witch growled angrily with the rest of her sisters-in-arms. "We cannot allow Yuuzhan Vong to live on our soil."
"Then we're gonna have a problem," Mara said, taking hold of the lightsaber on her belt but made no move to either unhook or activate it.
"So be it," the leading Witch proclaimed.
She then pulled out the wooden staff that was holstered across her back, just as her fellow Witches did, and they all charged in toward the two Jedi, who promptly unhooked and activated their lightsabers.
But before any fight could begin, the leading Witch stopped in her tracks when her own staff - which would have been aided by the Force, like the other staffs, to contend with the lightsaber blades - suddenly disappeared from her own hands.
And one by one, a staff disappeared from the hands of a Witch by an interval of two seconds; eventually, even those who still had their staffs stopped once they saw their sisters-in-arms simply lose their weapons from existence itself, as it seemed.
After the last Witch finally lost her staff, the Solo Quest flew in from the open spaceport bay and landed in between the Jade Shadow and Jaina's Blastboat.
Soon, Jacen stepped down from the boarding ramp with one of the Witch's staffs in hand; he activated his green-bladed lightsaber and sheered the staff in half down the middle. He then dropped the piece he still held in his hand down with its other half before deactivating his own weapon and hooking it back to his belt.
"I'm sure all of you are wondering what happened to your weapons," Jacen said. "I had used a special Force-technique to teleport your staffs away to a location that only I know of. If you, as a whole, do not comply with my demand, all of your weapons will end up like the one there." He pointed to the severed staff at his feet.
The leading red-skinned Witch growled at Jacen. "We still have the Force; we can outnumber you to get what we want."
"To what end, though?" Jacen inquired. "What will surely get you into more trouble with the Galactic Alliance and the Jedi Order than you can afford, just to kill two Yuuzhan Vong. Quite frankly, it's pretty stupid, Sister Peoult."
The red-skinned Witch's eyes widened in disbelief. "Do not mock us, Jacen Solo. Dathomir has suffered at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong; they must pay for what they did!"
"Revenge is of the dark side, Peoult," Jacen pointed out. "If you kill them, you not only endanger yourself, your clan, and potentially every other clan on Dathomir, if worse gets to worst, you would be embracing that which makes you no better than the Nightsisters."
This caused murmurs and stirrings around the present Witches, but Peoult silenced them all with a Force-enhanced, "Quiet!"
She then continued in a more subdued tone with Jacen. "You have no right speak to us of the dark side, given that you resigned from the Jedi Order feeling unworthy. Why should we listen to a man who does not view himself as being worthy of the Jedi?"
"Because if you don't," Jacen found himself saying in spite himself, "you will embroil your sisters into a war that you cannot possibly win. And if there are any Witches of Dathomir left afterward, they will remember you as being the spark that caused the explosion that started this war, and you will be remembered as someone who embraced the dark side just as the Nightsisters do. Would you want that shame?"
Peoult ground her teeth in anger. "We will not lose."
"Don't be so sure," Jacen replied. "Kill these two Yuuzhan Vong, kill my aunt, my sister, and me, and you will live to rue this day in more ways than one."
Peoult growled again before whirling around to face her fellow Witches. "What say you, sisters-in-arms? Do you want to walk away with your heads down to let these two monsters-" she indicated Eruk and Dulaana "-continue to live? Or do you want to stand up and fight for what's right?!"
But instead of getting any kind of unified, supportive response, the crowd's reaction was varied, with some cheering for war while others jeered Peoult for her stupidity. This, in turn, caused shouts and wild arguments among the gathered Witches of Dathomir.
The resultant arguments soon got so intense that within less than a minute, those who supported Peoult reached out with the Force and lifted some of their disagreeing sisters-in-arms up by their throats, choking off their oxygen.
In response, those against Peoult who weren't being suffocated unleashed a Force blast-wave that sent the treacherous Witches flying back.
And from there, it degenerated into an all-out brawl among the Dathomiri Witches.
Heaving with frustration, Peoult turned away from the chaos and formed a ball of electricity that she sent flying for Jacen. But he'd already dodged it by leaning to his left before reactivating his lightsaber and slashing it diagonally across the Witch's torso, ending her life and dropping her body in an instant.
The Peoult-supporting Witches who saw this tried to go after Jacen, only to be held back by the Witches who disagreed with the red-skinned woman.
In the meantime, Mara and Jaina managed to disentangle themselves from the brawl and they headed through to reach the still-bound Eruk and Dulaana. Both Jedi used the Force send certain Witches, who tried to get to the Vong in the confusion, flying away. Soon, both Jedi arrived at the aliens' sides to rip the ropes away from their wrists, and Mara took Eruk while Jaina took Dulaana before they headed to the Jade Shadow and the Blastboat respectively.
All three ships - the Quest, the Shadow, and the Blastboat - were gone before the brawl had finally concluded.