-/\-

Twenty-Five
(Connection)

As their shuttle approached the battle station Phoenix, Jaina marveled at the immense weapon of war her brother had brought back from the dark alternate universe. A similar station had almost been built here, developed by Palpatine's secret team of scientists and engineers during the Clone Wars, but her grandfather had put a stop to the project not long after becoming Emperor. She had once studied the available documents concerning the Death Star out of curiosity, and at the time had been greatly relieved something so destructive had never been let loose on the galaxy in the hands of men like Palpatine and Tarkin.

Now her own brother commanded a Death Star, and Jaina could not help but feel nervous, especially given the blasted wreckage of what had once been a Yuuzhan Vong fleet floating around the moon-sized station. The Vong had gathered almost a thousand ships here, and Jacen had spent the better part of a week moving the Phoenix around the system finishing them off.

"He feels so different," Jaina said aloud as she sensed her brother in the Force. "He's so… cold."

"He does not use the Dark Side," Qeris said from the copilot's seat, her tone slightly defensive.

"That's not what I mean," Jaina replied. "Our whole lives, he's been so… joyful, all the time, as if he was happy just to be alive and to be around living things. The only time I've ever felt him this angry was when Tamith Kai tried to invade Alderaan and started forest fires from orbit with her fleet. He worked himself to exhaustion helping to put them out. We all did."

"What he is doing now is similar, I think," said Qeris. "The Empress' stated goal was to turn him to the Dark Side and then use him to conquer this galaxy. That upset him more than he is willing to admit, though his feelings are quite clear to me. He has thrown himself into his work to avoid thinking about it."

Something in her voice gave Jaina pause, and she looked over at the Imperial Knight with realization. Not knowing what to think, she decided against saying anything for now.

The shuttle was directed by flight control up to the private hangar near the executive quarters, where they were met by a platoon of white-armored stormtroopers led by a middle-aged dark-haired officer in a black uniform and cap.

"Master Qeris," the officer greeted her as they descended the shuttle's ramp. As Jaina emerged from the shuttle, his gaze moved immediately to her with slightly suspicious curiosity. "Who is your guest?"

"Commander Solo's sister Jaina," Qeris replied. "A Jedi Knight from the Republic."

The officer nodded crisply. "I shall inform the Commander of your arrival." He gestured briefly to the stormtroopers, who moved into escort formation around Jaina and Qeris. The officer went off to a comm panel near the entrance to the hangar.

"Commander?" Jaina murmured.

"He… prefers not to be called by the title the Empress gave him," Qeris replied, "nor would he accept being called 'Emperor', so the troops have given him a slightly less official title."

"How many troops are we talking about?" Jaina asked.

"Just under a million personnel on the Phoenix itself," Qeris answered, "plus an additional four hundred thousand crewmen and troopers stationed on the ships that accompanied us."

Jaina let out a low whistle. "And you're sure all of them are loyal to you?"

"Those who accompanied us came by choice," Qeris said as they entered a large turbolift. "A few… misguided loyalists to the Empress came along intending sabotage, but they are being dealt with. The Empress was cruel, and very unpopular with her troops. They were forced to commit many atrocities against the people of their home galaxy, and they were inspired by Jacen's promise to use this station and its personnel to protect civilians, not oppress them."

One of the stormtroopers stirred. "Permission to speak freely, ma'am?"

Qeris glanced back at the man. "Granted."

"Anyone would have been better than Lady Vader, ma'am," he said to Jaina. "She made us do things… we feel we must atone for. Your brother has so far shown himself to be an honorable man, ma'am, which is why we're willing to work with him on his mission to stop the Vong."

"He goes out to fight alongside us in the worst of it," another trooper put in. "He won't send us to do anything he isn't willing to do himself, and that's something the army hasn't seen from its commanders in a long time."

Jaina nodded without replying, taking this in.

Finally the turbolift doors opened out into a massive room that had clearly been intended to impress and intimidate any who entered it. She could see signs that decorations had once adorned the walls, but had been ripped down, leaving the enormous throne room coldly austere and professional.

Perhaps the clearest example of this was the tall staircase leading up to a balcony which had plainly once held a large throne on a pedestal. The throne had been replaced with a standard command chair, and in it sat a figure who was at once familiar and completely alien to her.

He was definitely her twin, but his entire bearing was totally different from the way she was used to seeing him. His hair, perpetually tousled and shaggy for as long as she could remember, was now trimmed back in a severe military cut, accompanied by a trim beard that descended from his temples along the line of his jaw. He wore a black Imperial uniform and polished boots, his lightsaber clipped to a belt buckled with a gleaming emblem of a bird with wings curving up above its head, the feathers resembling tongues of flame.

Most unsettling of all, he did not look at all pleased to see her.

"Why are you here?" he said without rising from his command chair, his voice deeper than she remembered.

"Well, let's see," Jaina said sarcastically, annoyed. "Maybe it's because I'm worried about you."

"As you can see, I am unharmed," Jacen replied curtly. Though the cadence of his speech was different now, it seemed somehow familiar. "I am busy with strategy, and do not have time to speak with you at the moment. You may assure the Republic and the Jedi Council that I mean them no harm. Phoenix Fleet has no ambitions beyond the defeat of the Yuuzhan Vong."

"No, no, no," Jaina said hotly. "I'm your sister, damn it, not some flunky sent to check up on you! What's the matter with you?"

Jacen merely met her gaze with a cold stare and did not reply.

"Look, Qeris told me what happened to you, okay?" Jaina said, trying to calm herself. "I just… want to help you, all right?"

"I do not require your assistance," he said. "You may return to the Republic fleet."

Finally it clicked. "You know who you look like?" Jaina said incredulously. "You even sound like him now."

"There are worse examples to follow," he replied mildly.

"Not for our family, there aren't!" she exclaimed. "Are you even still a Jedi, or are you going to go off and play Sith Lord now?"

Even as Jaina said it, she wished she hadn't. Jacen's eyes flashed with fury, and his expression tightened into a glare.

"Get out," he said angrily.

"Jacen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"Get OUT!" he shouted, jumping to his feet. "Troopers, escort her from the room."

"Now, just a minute here," Jaina said, snatching her arm from a trooper's grip.

Jacen raised a gloved hand and pointed a finger at her. "Don't make me have you ejected from the station."

"Do you mean that literally, Commander?" she snapped, glaring back at him.

His expression lost some of its hardness at this, and he lowered his hand. "Escort her to one of the executive suites," he said to the troopers standing next to her. "See that she remains there until I am ready to speak with her."

Jaina was too confused and angry to make any sort of reply to this. Instead, she simply turned and marched herself back to the turbolift. She couldn't even bring herself to look back at him as the doors closed.

Qeris frowned up at Jacen from the base of the stairs leading up to the balcony.

His anger was plain on his face and through what she sensed in the Force. "She comes here without invitation and immediately accuses me of being a Sith!" he snapped down at her. "How was I supposed to react?"

"By understanding that your actions since our return have caused her and the rest of your family a measure of concern," Qeris replied calmly, trying to keep her annoyance out of her voice. "They thought you were dead, and you haven't bothered to so much as call them on the comm since you've come back. How was she supposed to react?"

"I've been busy," Jacen said stiffly. "I have a war to win."

"So do I," Qeris rejoined. "And yet, one of the first things I did after we brought this station back to this galaxy was send a message to my family."

He said nothing to this, his expression unreadable, but after a moment he softened. "I'm sorry."

Qeris met his gaze, slightly reproving. "I am not the one to whom you should apologize."

He nodded, expression softening still further. "You're right." One corner of his mouth quirked in light amusement. "Once again I find myself glad you're with me."

She returned the smile. "Funny how that's working out."

Awareness came back gradually. Despite her gradual return to consciousness, she felt a terrible weariness, an unsettlingly familiar emptiness lurking beneath it.

And she also felt like a bantha had been sitting on her head. Wonderful.

Jenn blinked her eyes, taking stock of her surroundings. She was laying on a bed somewhere in a starship - she could feel the telltale slight vibrations that indicated hyperspace travel - but oddly enough the room smelled earthy and fresh, like a forest after a heavy rainstorm.

The Force was gone, the way it had been after Malachor. Dimly she remembered straining against an overwhelming attack, faint impressions of someone trying to help her, and then… nothing. She must have been out for days after that, judging by her various aches and the vile taste in her mouth.

"Hey, you're awake finally," said a familiar voice. "Took you long enough."

Jenn looked over to see Mara Jade Skywalker sitting in a wicker chair nearby, holding a datapad. The wall behind her was wood-paneled, and appeared to have an actual patch of ivy growing on it, carefully pruned away from diagnostic screens and other medical machinery.

"Wouldn't be the first time I've woken up in a strange med-center in nothing but my underwear," Jenn said. She paused, frowning. "That didn't come out right."

Mara raised an eyebrow. "No, it didn't. It's good to see you still have your sense of humor, though."

Jenn laughed lightly, leaning back against her pillows. "The things I've been through… It's either make jokes or go crazy." She reached for a cup of water sitting on the small table beside her and took a drink. "So where am I, anyway? This definitely isn't the Sabre."

"This is a Sekotan starship," Mara replied. "We found you and then the Ferroans crewing it found us. They're taking us back to Zonama Sekot, their homeworld." She took on an ironic tone. "It is, if you can believe it, a sentient, hyperspace-capable planet. It's been hiding from the Vong at the edge of the galaxy for almost fifty years."

Jenn processed this for a moment. "I'm trying to decide if I've heard stranger things."

"Become a Jedi: see the galaxy at its weirdest," Mara observed.

Jenn chuckled. "You've got that right." She took another drink of water, then looked back up at the other Jedi Master. "So, I'm assuming you know about Pyrron taking control of the second Star Forge."

Mara nodded, then quickly summarized what had happened since then.

"So this time I did it to all four of us?" Jenn said. "I'm sorry."

"You saved their lives," Mara replied evenly. "That's nothing to be sorry for." She fixed Jenn with a cool stare. "Which is why you only have to pay for half of my new ship."

"The Sabre was destroyed?" Jenn asked, fighting back a slight stab of guilt despite herself.

"Not a scratch, you promised. And then you let psychotic cultists blast it to pieces."

Jenn adopted an overly apologetic expression, one that was only partially feigned. "Sorry, I'm afraid all my credits are a few millennia out of date."

"Then you can mow the grounds at the Jedi Temple," Mara said, not missing a beat. "I'm sure you'll be able to work it off eventually."

Jenn thought she saw a hint of a smile on the other's face, and felt herself smile back over the rim of her cup. "Deal." She let the humor fade from her expression. "So what's the plan now?"

"Zonama Sekot has some sort of connection with the Yuuzhan Vong, so Vader wants to explore that further and see if it can help with the war," Mara answered. "These Ferroans also claim that Sekot can help you four recover your connection to the Force, so we'll see how that goes."

"If it doesn't take ten years, I'm all for it," Jenn said wryly, the words more colored by bitterness than she'd intended. She sat back, drumming her fingers on the sheet. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad we have an intact Star Forge now, and Revan in command of it. We're going to need everything we've got to stand against both Pyrron and the Vong."

Mara nodded. "According to the Ferroans, the Burned and the Vong are fighting all through the dwarf satellite galaxies, so that'll keep them both occupied for a while."

The door opened and Darth Vader strode into the room, his mismatched eyes flicking briefly to Jenn before looking over at Mara. "We passed within range of a HoloNet relay during our last recalculation," he began. "It seems Jacen survived, and furthermore, he brought the Empress' Death Star back with him, along with a substantial fleet."

"What?!" Mara exclaimed, standing. "When did this happen?"

"According to Thrawn's report, the Death Star, which Jacen has renamed the Phoenix, arrived during a battle in the Mytus system one week ago," Vader answered. "Since then he has had only brief communication with the fleet, mostly using Qeris as his envoy. He seems to be using the station to destroy the rest of the Vong ships in the system at present."

"Wait a second," Jenn said. "How long have I been out? If we're already back within range of a HoloNet relay…"

"The hyperdrives on Sekotan ships are faster than any others in the galaxy," said Vader. "The engineers who build them closely guard their secrets, but I will be asking for their assistance in modifying our vessels. Speed and firepower will be the keys to winning this war quickly."

"No war is won quickly," Jenn said quietly. "Especially when one side is composed of fanatics. No, things are just getting started."

Jaina sensed her brother approaching her assigned quarters long before the door buzzed. Qeris was right; though he was alarmingly cold and grim now, she did not sense the Dark Side in him. That at least was some small relief.

"Come in," she said, and the door opened.

Even Jacen's posture was different; he'd always moved with a sort of easy, relaxed ranginess much like their father, but now he was stiff and martial.

"I wanted to apologize for losing my temper," he said as the door closed behind him. He shifted into a 'parade rest' stance just in front of it, hands behind his back. Once again, the resemblance to their grandfather was uncanny.

"So do I," Jaina said. "I shouldn't have snapped at you, either." She paused, taking a breath. "But you have to understand… I'm worried about you. You're so different now."

"You can't go through what I did and come out unchanged," Jacen said with deceptive calm; she could sense him trying to suppress strong feelings of pain, both physical and emotional. "I apologize if I was short with you, but… I have much more responsibility now."

"Well, that's why I came," said Jaina, taking a step closer. "You don't have to keep this all to yourself, Jacen. You can talk to me; you've always been able to come to me with anything."

Jacen took a deep breath. "You said Qeris told you what happened to us?"

"The Empress was… Mom's counterpart," Jaina confirmed. "I… I can't even imagine…"

"It wasn't just her," he said, barely above a whisper. "Dad's counterpart was one of her officers. Both of them were… totally unlike our parents. I could never have imagined they could be those people, and yet… in that universe, they were. She kept…" He swallowed, and his eyes glistened wetly. "She kept calling me her son. And I… I killed her. I put my lightsaber through her heart."

Jaina reached up and put her hand on his shoulder. "Well, that wasn't Mom," she said softly. "Your real mother just wants to talk to you. You might have been cut off from us for a while, but… we're here for you now."

He nodded once, though his shoulder was still tense beneath her hand. "I just… I can't just bounce back from this right away."

She squeezed his shoulder. "Nobody would expect you to."

Jacen nodded again, his expression uncomfortable and distant. He gently pulled away and walked over to the viewport displaying the black expanse outside. "I have much work to do. I'm not sure when I'll have the opportunity to go and talk to them."

"Grandmother is working to organize a conference, a summit to decide how the Republic and the Empire can work together to fight the Vong and Pyrron's cult," Jaina said. She let out a light wry chuckle. "Strange as it is to me to say this, you control a significant military power now, so you should be there, too."

Jacen turned to look at her with a wry half-smile of his own. "Believe me, this is not where I thought I'd be either, a month ago." At his belt, his comlink buzzed, and he answered it. "Yes?"

"Commander, the Executor reports that several Yuuzhan Vong vessels which were concealed in one of the asteroid belts have broken the Interdictor blockade and are on their way out of the system."

"Track their vector," Jacen ordered. "Alert all commands: we're following them."

"Yes, Commander."

"There are a number of colonies in this sector," Jacen said, heading for the door. "As I understand it, the Vong intended to use this system as a staging area from which to conquer the Corporate Sector."

"Thrawn's plan was to keep them blockaded in the system with the Interdictors," Jaina said as they walked briskly down the corridor, headed for the turbolift. "We were picking them off a few at a time until more of the fleet could get here." She let out a frustrated sigh. "Of course, then the Burned showed up. Even though you destroyed most of those two fleets, we've been chasing elements of them both all around the system. Even one solar system is still a big place to hide a star fleet or two."

As the lift doors closed, Jacen turned to her. "That's what I've been doing for the last week; Phoenix Fleet has been engaged in hunting down the remnants of both fleets, as has Thrawn and Ackbar's battle group. I knew some of them were going to break the blockade sooner or later. How soon can we expect Republic reinforcements?"

Jaina shook her head. "Not for a while. A Vong battle group was spotted out near Mygeeto several days ago, so the fleet that was coming here is headed there instead. There are more and more skirmishes in the border systems near the Unknown Regions all the time."

"We knew the Chiss and Vader's Vanguard Fleet couldn't hold them back forever," Jacen said, frowning. "And with this Pyrron in control of a Star Forge out in one of the satellite galaxies… I agree: a strong alliance is needed."

"So you'll come to the summit?" Jaina asked.

His slight smile was encouraging. "I will." He gestured down the corridor as the lift doors opened, and they set off side by side.

From orbit, Zonama Sekot looked like a hundred other worlds Jenn had seen; blue oceans, green and brown continents, the whole sphere striped with lacy white bands of clouds. However, as the living Sekotan ship descended through the atmosphere, it became apparent this was no ordinary planet. Vast green clearings in the jungles, unexceptional to untrained eyes, were quite clearly the remnants of once-massive craters and blast zones, similar to how Dxun had looked when Jenn returned over a decade after the horrifically bloody battle she had fought there during the Mandalorian Wars.

This world had seen similar battle, and more than once, judging from the relative freshness of some of the slowly healing scars in the landscape.

All at once the numb ache of not being able to feel the Force came over her again. It was strange, frustratingly so, to see all that life yet be unable to sense any of it.

But, even as she thought about this, she felt a flicker of the old familiar power spark within her again, blessedly welcome like a radiant fire in an endless icy plain. It was nowhere near the connection she was used to, but at least it was something.

Be at ease, a voice said within her mind, genderless and alien, but its tone that of a mother. Your enemies cannot harm you here. I will help you regain that which you have lost.

Who are you? she asked.

I am Sekot, the voice answered. And you I know already, Jennyrija Talmak. Your apprentices spoke very highly of you, and their memories of you were strong.

You met some of my friends? she sent back, astonished.

Indeed I did, Sekot replied. It was not so long ago to one such as I. They cared for you very much, as I feel you care for them. They left to fight a powerful evil, and in their absence I promised to guard the secret of the second great factory of the ancients, to keep the evil one from finding it. They fought the great evil, and though it overcame them in their battle, they wounded it enough to delay its plans. The Order you preserved through them gained time enough to grow strong, to fight the evil when it finally emerged from its lair, and at the hands of a mighty hero was it destroyed for all time.

Jenn leaned back in her seat, thinking about this. This at least was some small comfort, knowing that the apprentices she trained had in her absence gone to fight the lurking evil hiding on the fringes of space, the great threat she had gone to fight. Even though she and Revan had failed, others given the opportunity to learn the ways of the Force because of them had succeeded.

Perhaps you did not fail, Sekot broke into her musings. Perhaps your destiny simply lay along a different path. Your unique knowledge and power were needed to fight the great evil that arose in this time.

This aligned remarkably with the conclusions Jenn had drawn while meditating on Mira's holocron on the journey out, and she wondered at this as she withdrew it from the pouch on her belt where she kept it.

As had often been remarked by countless Jedi and others in the long history of the galaxy, the Force worked in mysterious ways. Though at the time it seemed like a blunder, a failure in their mission when she and Revan had been snared by the trap in the temple on Arctriel's moon, it had led to a curious string of events:

Mira, Visas, and Atton had eventually gone after her in an attempt to learn the fate of their teacher. Their path had led them to Yotuunhym, and though Mira had died there, her sacrifice saved the lives of many who would otherwise have been slaughtered by the temple's monstrous guardians. While there, they had learned of the second Star Forge, and Visas and Atton had left to seek it. On the way, they had encountered Zonama Sekot, entrusting it with guarding the path while they went to confront the shadowy predator lurking in the Unknown Regions.

The Chiss had quarantined Yotuunhym after the incident there; Jenn and Revan were the only people alive now who would even have known there were secrets to find on that forgotten planet. She and the others had found the location of the second Star Forge, a station the very existence of which they would not have been aware without consulting the computer there.

But, she mused darkly, that had led to a genuine failure on her part: Pyrron would never have found the second Star Forge if she had not inadvertently led him to it. All the lives he would destroy with the fleet he constructed… all that blood would be on her hands, staining them even further.

You are wrong, Sekot told her gently. Come outside and put your feet on my soil. Reach out to me, commune with me, and I will show you the truth.

Only dimly aware of what she was doing, still deep in thought, Jenn complied. She left the living ship and walked out into the forest, marveling at all the life she could feel, the currents of the Force flowing more strongly here than in any other place she had ever been. She paused to remove her boots and socks, then continued on, her connection to the Force healing more with every step she took into the teeming mass of life. The air was clean and fresh, the wind refreshingly cool. Long grass tickled her bare feet, seeming to bring a wave of sensation through the Force with each gentle contact.

All life is connected. Life creates the connection, makes it grow. Every action brings reactions from all connected things. It is true, you unintentionally granted the Burned Lord terrible power, but at the same time, you brought upon him his greatest weakness.

Jenn did not understand. How?

For years he and his followers had hidden themselves, with secrecy as their greatest shield as they prepared themselves for their mad conquest. Though the governments hunt them, few have been caught, for they have no home; connected through their perversion of the great web of life, they have no need to gather in large numbers. They were constantly mobile, their leader in particular, making him all but impossible to find.

Suddenly she understood. The Star Forge cannot be moved. In order to use its power, Pyrron has to stay with it. We know exactly where to find him.

She sensed Sekot's approval. Thus can he be overcome. If you gather your allies and attack, we can stop his insane purge before it begins. You, Jenn, have survived the full brunt of his power. Only you, with all the other tragedies and endless pain which you have survived, could have discovered the key to shielding oneself against his power, his perversion of the connection. You must again become a teacher, pass on this secret to others so that those with strong connections may withstand his assaults and put an end to this Burned Lord. He is unnatural, he is an aberration, and he must be destroyed to truly restore life's harmony.

But how can I shield myself without cutting myself off from the Force again? Jenn asked. Both times I did this, I did it without conscious thought.

I will help you, Sekot replied. And you, in turn, will help the others. Only together can we truly understand. Only together can we become more than we are to accomplish what must be done.

Thank you, Jenn said to the living world, marveling at the sheer power and complexity of the mind she touched.

In turn, I thank you, Jenn. Your struggle against the Burned Lord woke me from my slumber, and now I have realized what I must do. Together, we can discover the secret of bringing this conflict to an end.

Seated in his throne in the Imperial Palace on Coruscant, Emperor Soontir Fel regarded the hologram of his counterpart in the Republic, Chancellor Padmé Amidala.

"As you can see, Emperor Fel, an alliance between our governments is more necessary than ever. The Yuuzhan Vong will be desperate now that they have lost their factory, and in turn the Burned cult will grow bolder in their strikes against us. We have only weeks, a month at best, to prepare a strong line of defense." She drew herself up, hands spread slightly in invitation. "This threat faces us all, and only together can we stand against it."

"I agree," the Emperor replied. "Lord Vader gave me clear instructions when he left, and I have spent the entirety of my reign following them. The Empire is ready for war, Chancellor, and though the battle has not yet come to us, it soon will if the enemy is not defeated in your space."

Though she was too experienced a politician to show her emotions openly, Fel could nonetheless tell that Amidala was pleased by this. "Do you have any suggestions for where the conference should be held?"

Fel allowed himself a small smile. "Where better than the place where I and one of your predecessors as Chancellor signed the original peace treaty between us? I shall come in person as I did then."

Amidala nodded in agreement. "I will alert the border patrols to let you through. We will await your arrival at Alderaan."

Ord Rheznir was an unremarkable colony in the Outer Rim roughly halfway between Dantooine and Sernpidal. The only habitable planet in the system, Ord Rheznir itself was a temperate world with no native sentient species, its only inhabitants farmers, miners, and scientists in a few secluded outposts. It had no real military or planetary defenses because the system was so insignificant and resource-thin that it wasn't worth conquering. Even the colony towns had only a few bored constables.

In other words, Ord Rheznir's ten million inhabitants were a perfect target for the Yuuzhan Vong.

The day his world was destroyed, Markin Andross was out playing with his brother Garrett and their friend Kari in the field behind their family's farmhouse. They were, as preadolescent members of almost any species are wont to do, playing war. Currently, they held foam-padded 'lightsabers' they'd badgered their father into making, and were pounding each other silly with them.

Garrett, playing the villain as always, scrambled atop a boulder and laughed maniacally, pointing his 'lightsaber' down at Kari, who sat on her hands next to the large chunk of rock. "Don't come any closer, Skywalker!" he sneered at Markin. "Or else I'll dispatch my prisoner!"

"You'll never win, Darth Nova," Markin said dramatically, taking up his 'lightsaber' in both hands. "The Sith will always be defeated!"

"I don't see why I have to be the prisoner," Kari complained. "I want to be Mara Jade. She's the one who actually killed Darth Nova."

"If you want to play with us, you've gotta be the prisoner," Garrett said to her. "Now be quiet."

"Death to Sith Lords!" Markin shouted playfully, leaping at his brother with a wild swing of his foam-padded blade.

"Hey, no fair!" Garrett objected, clumsily blocking Markin's swing. "She distracted me!"

"It was on purpose!" Kari exclaimed, jumping to her feet as the brothers traded blows. "I was only pretending to still be tied up. Force push!"

"No, Kari, you're the prisoner," Garrett said, glaring at her.

"Oh, come on, let her be Mara Jade if she wants," Markin cajoled.

Garrett shrugged, then threw back his head and let out another maniacal laugh. "It doesn't matter!" he said. "I can defeat you both together!"

Kari picked up another of the foam-padded plastic rods laying nearby and charged at Garrett. The three of them traded blows for a few moments before Kari managed to poke Garrett in the chest with the tip of her 'lightsaber', laughing triumphantly. "Take that, Sith!"

Garrett clutched his chest and staggered about making ridiculous gurgling noises until he dropped to his knees with a comical imitation of a death rattle, falling face-first onto the grass.

Markin and Kari were laughing so hard at this they almost didn't notice the first explosion.

"What was that?" Garrett said curiously as he sat up.

"It sounded like it came from town," Kari said, looking around.

A huge shadow blotted out the sun, passing overhead with a thunderous rumble. Markin stared up at it in shock. "What's going on?"

Tarrol Andross came charging out of the farmhouse, sprinting over to them. "Get to the storm shelter!" he shouted to the children. "Come on, come on!"

Terrified, Markin did not move at first, watching as a number of smaller shapes split off from the colossus hovering overhead, shrieking through the air spitting fire.

A hand grabbed his shoulder, and Markin jumped before he recognized his mother Yrka, her face filled with worry. "Come on, son!"

Gripping his mother's hand, Markin ran to the shelter where his father was already waiting, a blaster in one hand. Tarrol waved them inside, then slammed the door closed and locked it.

"Count off!" he said, looking around the tiny room stocked with food and water.

"Where's Garrett?" Yrka said. "Where's Garrett?"

Markin looked around the shelter again, but did not see his brother, only Kari and his parents.

Tarrol cursed under his breath, unlocking the shelter door. "Stay here," he said. "I'll go find him."

Even as he opened the door, an explosion close by knocked him back, hurling dirt and leaves into the shelter. Tarrol scrambled to his feet, coughing, and pulled himself outside. Yrka moved to the open door to watch, but suddenly she screamed and Markin heard blaster fire outside.

Yrka scrambled back from the door and moved to the large metal storage locker that sat against one wall of the shelter. She threw it open and began hurriedly pulling things out, throwing them on the floor. "Help me," she said to Markin and Kari.

"What's happening?" Kari said, fighting back tears. "Is it the Vong?"

"Just help me!" Yrka snapped, scooping armfuls of supplies out of the locker.

Wordlessly, they obeyed, working as quickly as they could. Soon the locker was almost empty, and when there was enough space, Yrka pushed them both inside.

"No matter what happens," she said to Markin, "no matter what you hear, do not come out. You understand me? Do not come out."

"Mom," Markin sobbed, reaching for her.

Yrka wordlessly squeezed his hand once, then gently pushed him back and closed the lid of the locker.

Markin could hear her piling the supplies on top of the locker amidst the continual explosions of the bombardment outside, the shrieking howl of the invading ships flying through the air, and distant blaster-fire.

The door to the shelter slammed again, accompanied by guttural shouting and heavy footsteps, and Kari gasped. Markin put his hand over her mouth, placing the other over his own to keep from screaming himself. He heard his mother shouting indistinctly, then he heard screaming and crashing. Something slammed into the locker hard enough to shake it, the supplies on top rattling against the metal lid, and Markin squeezed his eyes shut, trying as hard as he could to be quiet. He could feel Kari shaking next to him with silent sobs.

Outside, he could hear his mother screaming and more crashing, then the door slammed again and everything went horribly quiet. Markin huddled with his friend in the dark, too afraid to come out.

The lid squealed open and light poured in, revealing the hideously grinning face of a Yuuzhan Vong.

-/\-

Author's Note: I meant to post this on Saturday, but my Internet was conked out all weekend. Sorry about that. Thanks to hairyhen for beta reading. Till next time, thanks for reading!