Notes: So COVID-19 sucks and is not a joke...been sick since last update, in and out of the hospital etc. I'm getting better atm but could get worse again. In the meantime I thought I'd write some.

Song of the day for the club: Highway Star (Belter version) - remix by Cory Todd

Chapter 20: Highway Star

Rey was going through a lot right now and she didn't know what she should try to be processing first. There was the fact that her name was actually Jaina Solo and for the past eighteen years she had been living a lie, even to herself. How could someone get over that in a single afternoon? The simple answer was that no one could. Just picturing how much she had missed with her family was overwhelming. That wasn't even beginning to take into consideration the fact she had been a Jedi and accidentally killed her Aunt. She should have been better than that, done any number of things differently to avoid the loss of life. Was Mara's death the real reason Luke took away her memories? Revenge? No, from what she remembered Luke wasn't that kind of person however losing someone close to you inevitably would change you to a degree. If that was the reason, could she stay mad at him for long? While he might have taken years with her family away from her, she chose to believe it was justified. Killing someone, even on accident, should have a consequence. And then at the bottom of all that, she was doing her best to remember the Chiss sitting across from her.

"So uhh, we were seeing each other back then?" She asked while brushing some hair out of her face.

Jag rubbed the back of his neck looking as uncomfortable as she felt, "Yeah. We met after I crashed my ship on an asteroid in the Outer Rim. You helped me repair my ship for a few days and we got to know each other. Being teenagers in the middle of nowhere stranded, you can imagine. Anyways, just before everything went bad I was planning on asking you to marry me. Then Luke sort of explained what we had to do to keep you safe and I was forced to leave you on Tatooine."

Jaina could see he was struggling with her condition so she did her best to comfort him, "I don't remember you specifically but, for the longest time I kept the Nirauan rose you gave me. I thought it was from a sibling that left me behind. If I hadn't left it in my employers shop I would still have it now."

Jag forced a joking grin, "I don't know if I should be offended or flattered that you confused me with your brother. Rumor has it you Skywalkers have a thing for sibling affection if you know what I mean."

Her face twisted with a little curious disgust, "Wait, really?"

Han was standing a few feet away letting Yarv communicate in the cockpit with the Jedi , "No! Your mother and I were fighting one time and she kissed Luke to make me jealous. There was nothing romantic about it. Now if you don't mind Jag, I'd like a minute or two alone with my daughter."

"Of course. We'll talk more soon Jaina." He stood up and she could practically feel the cool sadness flowing around him as he wandered to another part of the ship.

Rey felt sorry for him, having to wait eighteen years to be with the woman he had fallen in love with only for her not to remember him. Would those memories eventually come back? What could trigger her into remembering him more clearly? Those questions were going to have to wait, right now she was going to have to have a talk with her dad. Thinking that was so strange to her mind, how could she be the daughter of the legendary Han Solo? She was just a no name mechanic from Tatooine. Yet before she lost her memory, Rey was sure having Han and Leia as parents wasn't odd at all. Growing up she wouldn't have had any reason to look at them as mythical heroes, they were just mom and dad. Her brain constantly had to remind herself not to freak out due to being in the company of Han Solo. Like Lando, he was just a man though probably more sensitive than the suave administrator of Cloud City now that he had his daughter back.

He took Jag's seat wearily watching the Chiss round the corner, "He hasn't tried to make a move on you has he? Just say the word and I'll-"

She interrupted him with a shake of her head, "No dad, he's just...sad. He doesn't understand why I don't remember him and honestly, neither do I."

Han frowned obviously wishing he had an answer for her, "All I know about it is what Ben and Yarv just told me. I promise when we see your uncle I'm going to make him do whatever he can to give you all your memories back. You got that?"

"There's probably a pretty good reason he took them away in the first place dad, I don't think we should try and mess with it until we talk with him." Rey ordered in a sympathetic and slightly stern tone.

Han just had a more disgruntled expression on his face, "Some Sith wants to take all your energy or something. I got that part, I just don't understand how taking all your memories away from you protects you more than my blaster can."

She laughed amused he still hadn't grasped a Sith wasn't the same thing as a Stormtrooper, "Because Sith are different than your average mercenary for hire. If they can kill Jedi, they could get to you, and none of us want that."

Han began to sound just a little upset with her assessment, "Hey! I'll remind you I took out Boba Fett blind and behind my back. And I would say he's much more than your average goon."

Mirta was standing near by and she could only assume the girl was glaring at him, "My ba'buir was stuck in that pit for days because of you. He had to get new beskar too."

Ben called her from the opposite end of the ship, "Neither of us were born yet ner vod, let it go."

The fact Ben was calling this teenager his sibling drove the point home that he had chosen to stay with the Fetts for all this time. Given the history between the bounty hunter and her dad it was hard not to take that as a slap in the face. A part of her could understand wanting to get away from your family if you thought they weren't doing enough to avenge your mother but, why Boba Fett? Despite hearing reports of Fett making the Mandalorian tribes less outwardly violent, they were still known for their bounty hunting culture. Had the boy she knew really changed that much to accept all that or had he joined them for another reason? Maybe it was just a simple way to get back at his dad and them for what happened. After all young kids reaching puberty weren't known to take other peoples feelings into account when making decisions. No matter the reason, they were all going to have to come to terms with the fact Ben had another family now.

Mirta's head snapped back in his direction, "But-"

Ben didn't let her finish, "You think buir wouldn't have gotten retaliation already if he wanted to? Respect his wishes and let it go."

"Fine." She started to walk away only to whisper back at Han, "Di'kut."

"Do either of you understand what basic means?" Han demanded in clear frustration.

Threepio was the first to respond, "I believe she was telling you to-"

Han cut him off with a wave of his hand, "Shut it goldenrod."

Rey was about to say something to her dad when Yarv came out of the cockpit, "Hopefully Kyle got that..I think we're here by the way Han."

The Correllian nodded dragging himself out of the chair across from her, "I'll bring us into dock, why don't you tell the rest of us what's so important about that map Jaina found while I do that?"

Even though she had to admit she was interested in what caused Yarv and Mirta to simultaneously recite the names on the map, Rey was disappointed she didn't get to have more time just talking with Han. With how many years that had gone by she was sure she had missed so many adventures her parents had been on and she would have loved to catch up. Just the fact that mom had become Chancellor of the New Republic was a story she wanted to hear. How were the two of them dealing with her disappearance and Jacen's fall to the dark side? Since Han didn't know about what happened on Tython before Ben and Yarv said something, she could only assume her parents marriage wasn't as perfect as it could be. Despite that Jaina knew the three of them would get past this as a family. Now that some of her memory had returned, she highly doubred Luke would be willing or able to remove her memory a second time. Rey just had to be patient and eventually she would get the time with both her parents that she craved.

Yarv stood towards the middle of the Falcon so everyone could hear him talk, "I don't know how much of this will be accurate since it was always told to me as a fairytale but, the same thing could be said for the dagger on Mortis so... 3,900 some odd years ago, Revan was a Jedi Knight who was part of the Mandalorian Wars."

Mirta had an offended tone, "A part of? He led the entire Jetti crusade against us. Chased us all the way to Malachor V and blew up the planet. Killed Mando and Jetti alike on the ground. Took Mandalore the Ultimate's buy'ce and ended the war because no one could agree on who the next Mandalore should be."

Ben elbowed her arm sharply, "Uur ner vod, let the Jetti tell the story how he wants to tell it."

Rey could hear her whisper back to him, "I know what you're doing, you just want to shag the big Jetti."

Ben's helmet glared back at her as he whispered through gritted teeth, "Uur or I'm going to lock you in the cargo compartment until your ba'buir comes to get you for acting like an ad'ika."

Yarv cleared his throat blushing, his sensitive ears probably picking up on the spat. "Ahem...that part wasn't necessarily important to the story about the maps. Anyways, after the war was over Revan felt that the dark side had been responsible for the actions the Mandalorians took in the first place. So he went on an expedition into the Unknown Regions and supposedly discovered the true Sith Empire, and something else..."

"What could be worse than an army of shriveled up old hags?" Han asked what they were all thinking.

The Lasat sighed rubbing the back of his neck, "It's important I tell you I don't believe this part of the story but... Apparently he found a device known as the Star Forge. From the descriptions provided, it used the energies in the force to create ships and armies to man them. It could literally print unlimited resources which led to the Jedi Civil War. Revan created the largest army ever seen and almost destroyed the Republic. Supposedly the ancient Jedi hid the maps on Tatooine, Kashyyyk, Manaan, and Korriban so that no one else would be able to use the Forge."

Rey had to stop him before he kept going, "Wait, I thought you said Revan was a Jedi. Why did he turn around and try to destroy the Republic?"

Yarv shrugged looking at her instead of the Mandos, "No records really explain that part. The way Luke framed the story was that Revan did find something out there in the dark that twisted his mind. The moral of the story was that Knights shouldn't charge off to do something without the consent of the Council. Although, since you found that helmet and the map in the same place... Personally I think these maps could lead to Mortis directly."

Rey thought it over wondering how much could possibly be true. They knew Revan had existed and had left the Order in protest to fight the Mandalorians, his statue remained on Coruscant as one of the lost twenty. From the fall of the Mandalorian government for millenia they also knew something happened on Malachor V. Like Yarv though, she believed that was where the truth in the story had to end. The force couldn't be used to create life and materials on such a massive scale. Rey guessed that the dark side energy required to do that would've prompted some sort of reaction by the light. Right? It was most likely something Jedi elders told Padawan's when they were thinking about doing a bad deed. And yet her mind remembered the voices she heard in the cave where she got the mask.

"Can it's power truly be worth the risk?"

"It is like a living creature. It hungers. And it can..."

"There are dark places..."

"This place has no meaning, a tomb of old..."

"We have been brought here for a reason my..."

"Fools have tried, we will succeed..."

"UNLIMITED POWER!"

"You are fulfilling your destin..."

"How can we be sure?"

"I will not be questioned by a boy in a..."

She understood now what she had experienced down in that cave, Rey had been feeling the residue of Sith seemingly debating the existence of the Star Forge. And why wouldn't they want something so powerful? They wouldn't have needed more than two members of their order at a time if there was a way they could create armies from thin air. A part of her considered telling the group her experience but what good would that do? Even if the Sith believed this device was real, that didn't automatically make it so. There was almost a sense of wishful thinking among some of the Sith she had heard while others questioned the practicality of focusing on this artifact. Until the Empire started printing Star Destroyers by the millions in record time, they didn't have much to worry about. Though Rey would be foolish not to keep her experience in the back of her mind in case it came up again.

Han strolled out of the cockpit with his typical swagger, "Alright we're here, Kafrene isn't the safest of places at the best of times and I'm not exactly the most popular guy in town. So I think a few of you should stay with the ship in case things get hairy." Chewie let out a few grunts making Han turn around slightly, "You know what I mean buddy."

Yarv sat down with a sigh, "I'd go with you but, my ears don't handle huge crowds well without some concentration in the force."

Ben spoke up next, "I don't know what kind of relationship I have with Crimson Dawn myself so it might be a good idea for me to stay too. And thanks again Han for doing this, I'll owe you one."

Han smiled with a shrug, "It's what family does for each other kid. We'll be back with a way to get on Karga's ship. I promise. Everyone else with me."

Threepio spoke with a twinge of fear, "Even us sir?"

"Believe me I don't like it either. My old friend might want something in exchange and Artoo might be the only one that can get it fast." Han explained sounding just as miserable as Threepio felt.

As she passed by him to leave Mirta couldn't help but whisper to Ben, "Make sure it's a quickie ori vod, no telling on how soon we'll be back."

Rey didn't hear all of his colorful response because Jag grabbed her arm, "Jaina I...I'm not going to be able to go with you. After what happened with Ottolah, I have to get back to Nirauan and make sure the Ascendancy isn't going to do something stupid against the New Republic."

Although she didn't have memories of their actual time together, Rey couldn't help from being disappointed he had to leave again so soon. There had to be a reason she fell for him in the first place so what was to say she couldn't have done so again after getting to know him more? She already had to admit he had handsome features and was far more understanding of the situation then other men would be. Rey was also impressed his sense of duty was strong enough to pull him away from her after they just had a very brief reunion. Most of her customers on Tatooine would have neglected their responsibilities so they could be with whatever they loved for as long as possible. Perhaps when this was all over the two of them could start over and see if the spark would come back. Rey certainly didn't have any other guys in her life so it didn't hurt to wait just a little longer for the right one.

She kissed his cheek gently smiling up at him afterwards, "I'm sure we'll see each other again, when we'll have more time to get to know each other."

Han put his hands on his hips impatiently, "We shouldn't stay here longer than we have to, Kafrene is probably worse than Tatooine nowadays."

Jag gave one last look to her and then to Ben, "Thank you for getting her out of there safe. I know how you feel about what happened."

Without another word the group left the ship to start pushing their way through the crowded streets. Everyone was yelling at each other to move or otherwise get out of the way, this would have been awful for someone who heard better than Humans like Yarv. If Chewie wasn't around to physically push people out of the way, she didn't know if she had been able to keep up with Han at all. Thankfully, their apparent destination was close to the dock, a club known as Highway Star. The rock music assaulting her ears partially made her want to turn around and wait outside yet this was for Ben. Her mistake of leaving the child alone with Poe was what started all this so she needed to see it through. Even if it made her uncomfortable for a few minutes. Even though times had changed, she was positive Ben would have done the same thing for her if their situations were reversed.

The club itself was rather large and expensive looking, definitely not what she was used to in Mos Eisley. The walls had flashy holographic projections advertising different drinks she presumed could be purchased at the establishment. As well as other services that were more illicit with all sorts of various species. Rey had to wonder who her dad was trying to see in a place like this. She wasn't an idiot knowing full well he had spent most of his younger years as a smuggler but, this place just seemed to upper class for the crimes he normally pulled. From what she knew about his past, Han was more likely to steal from someone that lived in a place like this, not work with them. She trusted him however as he approached the potential bartender. Rey said potential because like everything else in here, the older woman was wearing a fancy dress like she was about to go to an important meeting.

Her voice had a core world accent that she was trying to suppress as she looked around for a drink under the table, "I'm sorry we're about to close for the evening."

Han put his hands on his hips with a tilt of his head, "Even to friends for old times sake?"

The woman moved her head up to look at them with a sigh, "Han, Chewie...I'm afraid now isn't the best time."

Han looked around expecting someone to jump them, "It'll be quick. I just need a favor, you know for when I turned the New Republic's attention away from this organization for awhile after you said you'd turn things around...?"

She stared at him uncomfortably for a moment, "I appreciated that but I didn't expect it to have a price tag attached."

Chewie let out a few grunts and Han smirked, "Chewie has a point, everything in our line of work has a price. Just hear me out, you might actually get something you want out of it if you play your cards right..."

Her facial features showed Rey that she was in a hurry and yet still planned to humor him, "Alright, if you say so but this better be worth it." She ducked under the table with the grace of a much more youthful woman and approached one of her guards standing next to a flight of stairs, "Tell the Moffs I won't be long."

When this mysterious woman brought up Moffs, Rey couldn't help but worry about what Han was getting them into. Could she be planning to hand them over to the Empire in exchange for credits? Han was a general in the New Republic so they would definitely pay to capture him, even with the Truce of Bakura. Entering her office made her stomach flip with fear and disgust. From wall to wall on shelves were dozens of Sith holocrons. There were enough of them that they bathed the room in an unatural red glow before more traditional lighting activated. There were more holocrons in this room than the entire library at Luke's academy on Tython. Her first instinct was to knock as many of them off the shelves as possible with her staff and start attacking the woman calmly marching behind her desk. The only thing that stopped her was the fact that Han didn't have the same response suggesting this was normal for this individual. And she trusted her dad knowing he would never purposely put her in harms way.

Still, Rey couldn't let it slide completely, "What is all this stuff you have here?"

While the woman had an air of impatience surrounding her, she was relieved not to feel any deception coming from her, "My predecessor was a collector of sorts, among other things... I thought it would be safer here than out on the black market."

"Why not give it all to the Jedi for sale keeping?" Rey challenged needing a better answer before she could trust her.

She put her hands on her desk leaning forward ever so slightly, "When I was born on Correllia I learned one thing: you have to rely on yourself if you want anything done. That rule stayed my constant guide throughout my life. So you'll excuse me if I don't trust Luke Skywalker to destroy the Sith when his academy made one."

Rey had a skeptical tone, "You want to destroy the Sith? Why? How do you even know about them?"

Han patted her on the shoulder trying to reassure her everything was ok, "Hey. Just relax ok? Me and Qi'Ra go way back. We can trust her."

Mirta was standing on the other side of Chewie making her hard for Rey to see, "How far back exactly? Just out of curiosity that is."

Qi'Ra swayed to glance at the Mandalorian, "We grew up together in the White Worms gang. Can we get to the point Han? Why are you here?"

Rey heard Mirta mumbling under her breath, "White Worms...interesting."

More loudly Han sat across from her, "Look my nephew got himself in trouble with the guild and needs to see Karga to work it out as fast as possible. I was hoping you could arrange a meeting."

She let out a little laugh, "You always had good timing Han. I know where he is but it's going to cost you."

"Anything." Han said and then winced realizing that might not be the best idea.

Qi'Ra smiled fiddling with a few of her fingers, "Access to the Chiss Ascendancy's star charts."

The request made Rey more anxious of Qi'Ra more than anything else. If she was just an average criminal, why did she need star charts to the Unknown Regions? Surely she hadn't run out of crimes to commit in the known galaxy. Rey had to guess it was because Qi'Ra knew it was impossible so she wouldn't have to deliver on getting a meeting with Karga. The only individuals capable of giving her that information was the Chiss and they certainly weren't going to cooperate after they attacked Ottolah. Rey wanted to know the reason why though especially due to all of the holocrons in her office. Jacen might be there biggest threat right now but that didn't mean the galaxy didn't have other bad players on the board. She didn't know if asking the question would hurt Han's chances of coming up with another idea for negotiations so she stayed quiet.

To her surprise though, Mirta was the one to ask, "What good would those do for a smuggler working spice? Chiss aren't known to be dealers or addicts."

Qi'Ra gazed at her curiosly, "I don't know why it would be a concern of yours. I think the Chiss are hiding someone or something out there. My predecessor was obsessed with finding a place he said was called Kesh. It's not on our modern maps, so I want to know if it's on theres or if he was insane."

"Beep beep beep." The sound came from her tables comm unit.

She stared down at the table with concern, "I told you I was going to be there in a minute."

"Ma'am, I thought it was important to let you know Luke Skywalker and Boba Fett are on their way here. They're apparently Natasi's security for the meeting." The guards announcement made Rey's heart skip a beat, Luke was here?

Qi'Ra rubbed her forehead glaring at Han, "Noted, make sure none of the Moffs leave the VIP room and reassure them they'll be safe for this meeting." She turned off the comm starting to get ready to leave, "If there wasn't anything else?"

Han stood up getting in front of her, "You owe me this. Just ask for something else and it's yours. You don't want to be on bad terms with me Qi'Ra."

Mirta surprised them all this time, "She won't have to, a friend of mine got the Chiss charts while we were on Nirauan. I'll give them to you, after you tell us where Greef Karga is right now."