It took three days for the five Jedi to return to Ossus from Hlest in the Skipray Blastboat. During that time, Corran and Lowbacca were each placed in a bacta tank that had been installed in the heavy starfighter, as Kyp thought it was a good precaution to take when coming to retrieve Saba from the Unknown Regions. As he explained to Jacen, had either he or Wonetun been seriously injured by her and/or Saba herself had been seriously injured resisting her would-be capture by them, then the Jedi who wasn't injured in retrieving her could pilot them all back to Ossus.
Of course, now Kyp and Wonetun couldn't even bring back her halved remains; the rooftop upon which she died had been destroyed by the Guardian's orbital bombardment, so there was nothing left of her to retrieve. It was definitely something that Jacen regretted, and something that Corran would no doubt regret, too, once he recovered from his amputation. Given how they had to quickly leave the dead Barabel behind when they thought that they were going with the Chiss troop party to chase after Jaina, it had slipped both Jedi's minds to bring Saba's remains with them back in that Chiss shuttle.
Upon their return to Ossus, the Blastboat had docked in the Jedi Temple's hangar bay on a clear sunny day, a stark contrast to the gloom that had developed within the starfighter. Chief Hefto had been apprised of the situation with Corran and Lowie ahead of time via comm, so she had Master Cilghal called down from the Temple's medbay with two assistants to help the amputated Jedi from their tanks. Kyp, Jacen, and Wonetun were, of course, escorted out of the ship first so that Cilghal and her people had all potential obstructions removed from their work, which allowed the three active Jedi to be met by a saddened Luke Skywalker.
"Jacen, I'm so sorry that all this happened," Luke said with a tone that matched his facial expression and Force-presence.
"Please, just tell me that you'll let me go back out there," Jacen begged. "We have to save Jaina. We have to save her more from herself than the Chiss or the Dark Nest or whatever else is out there."
"Jacen-"
"And there's still Alema, Tahiri, and Tesar. They're this Order's responsibility, too! The damage they could wreak on the Chiss could be-"
"Jacen, calm down," Luke interrupted sternly.
The Knight fell silent and waited for his uncle to speak.
"If I asked you," Luke began, "to stay here and allow other Jedi to look for Jaina and the others, would do so?"
Jacen shook his head. "I don't think I can."
"So you don't think that Saba disobeying my orders was wrong?"
"Honestly? No."
Luke sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that."
Before either of the three Jedi standing before Luke could say a thing in response, they all looked and saw Han and Leia Solo enter the hangar. Luke turned and regarded his sister and brother-in-law as they approached him.
"What the hell happened, Luke?" Han asked angrily even as he was still approaching him. "What the hell happened to my daughter?!"
"Han, I know you're upset-"
"Upset doesn't even begin to cover it!" Han yelled just before he grabbed both hands around his brother-in-law's collar and pulled him close so they were really face-to-face. "You told us that sending Jaina back out there could help redeem her of what she did when she was with the Killiks! But now Leia tells me she's gone to the DARK SIDE?! How'd you screw this up so bad?!"
"Han, let my husband go," Mara said from meters behind the elder Solos; she had just entered moments before. Jacen had gotten the sense from her that she had been following his parents for some time now
Han looked over his shoulder while still maintaining his double-grip on Luke's collar. "Or what? You're gonna slap me like you did to Jaina? Or are you gonna go all Emperor's Hand on me and-"
He suddenly fell silent when Mara used the Force to swipe his hands off of Luke's shirt. Then he was abruptly flung several meters off to his left, where he hit the deck hard on his back.
In response, Leia used the Force to blast Mara off her feet. Unlike Han, though, she landed in a tuck-and-roll over her shoulder and raised her hands with her palms outward to prepare another telekinetic attack on Leia.
"That's enough!" Luke exclaimed as he came between his sister and wife.
Leia and Mara regarded each other warily before the latter stood up peacefully with her arms lowered to her sides. Luke then looked between the two women even as Corran and Lowie were helped off the Blastboat by Cilghal and her assistants, who paid no attention to the tension that had just developed in the hangar.
"Now I know that what happened was tragic," Luke said as Han was helped back to his feet by Leia and Jacen. "But now more than ever we need to keep our heads cool. Now is not the time to fall into chaos among ourselves, especially when we could be facing a real threat from the Chiss. And with the Dark Nest still out there, aided by Knights of this very Order, we cannot allow any of this to sow the seeds of our destruction."
Han sneered. "Nice speech. Hope you repeat it at Saba's funeral, Luke." He turned away and headed out to the hangar's exit that led back into the Temple proper. He didn't even look at Mara as he passed her.
Leia spared Luke a parting, disappointed glance before she followed her husband out the same way. As she followed him, she exchanged a wary glance with Mara.
It had occurred to Jacen that in all that time, his mother had never said a word to her brother about Jaina. From what he had been able to read from Leia's Force-presence during the incident that just passed, she seemed just as angry at Luke as Han was.
Perhaps she didn't say a word because her husband said all that was needed to be said. And that made it all the more shocking to Jacen; he almost couldn't believe what had happened between his parents and aunt and uncle. For the two couples to turn on each other like that, after everything they had been through together over the years, was mind-boggling.
But Jacen knew that Han and Leia Solo loved Jaina deeply as their daughter as much as he loved her as his sister; and if there had been anything that could turn someone against their brother and brother-in-law, it would be over their child. Indeed, Jacen could even see Luke and Mara turning on Han and Leia in a similar vain if Ben had ever become involved in something like this as Jaina had.
When both elder Solos departed the hangar bay, Mara reached her husband and they hugged each other.
"Are you okay?" he asked her.
"I'm fine," she replied. "I don't think I'll even have a bruise after that."
Luke nodded. "That's good to hear, at least." He then gently broke out of the hug and turned back to face Jacen (who had returned to his previous spot after helping his mother get his father back to his feet), Kyp, and Wonetun.
"I will have a memorial for Saba tomorrow night," he told them. "While I understand that you would like to go back out and retrieve our wayward Knights as soon as possible, I would hope that all three of you will be able to attend."
"I will come," Wonetun answered simply.
"Of course I'll be there," Kyp said.
Jacen nodded. "I'll attend."
"Good, good," Luke said. "Jacen, may I see you in my office?"
"Yes, Master Skywalker."
"Master Durron, Jedi Wonetun," Luke addressed them, "you are free to return to your dormitories until I call upon you again."
"Yes, Master Skywalker," came from both of them.
As Kyp and Wonetun departed, Luke turned back to his wife and said, "Mara, you return to Ben. What I have to say to Jacen, I want to say alone."
Mara nodded. "Okay." She turned and left.
Minutes later, Luke and Jacen reconvened in the former's office. However, the former didn't even take his seat and instead remained on the other side of the table with his nephew; they both remained standing.
"Jacen, while I appreciate your honesty, and while I understand your desire to help your sister, you have to understand, you can't openly disobey me like that." His tone was stern and authoritative; it was a far cry from the warm gentle tone that Luke Skywalker was typically known for. "Especially in light of everything that's happened."
"You asked for my opinion, Uncle Luke," Jacen pointed out evenly. "If I had lied to you, I would have been disobeying you."
"You know what I mean, Jacen."
"No, I don't think I quite know."
"Then let me spell it out for you. Ever since your sister and your friends departed from their duties in the galaxy to side with the Killiks against the Chiss, the Jedi Order hasn't been on the best terms with them. In fact, we may very well be facing a war with them, which could even pull the Galactic Alliance into this if and when the Chiss attack their territory. Moreover, our image and my leadership status has been put into question by the Galactic Alliance; Chief Omas has taken notice with everything that's happened."
"Well, I'm sorry I've tarnished your image, Uncle Luke, but there are things that are more-"
"I wasn't finished speaking. I have now lost three Jedi since this Killik crisis began, one of them being a Jedi Master no less. And she died, in part, because she disobeyed my orders. Now you tell me that you would deliberately go against my commands because you can't help but want to save your sister, just as Saba couldn't help but want to save her son.
"I need to lead this Order, Jacen, and I can't have belligerent Jedi go off doing whatever they want. If I did that, this Order could not possibly function as well as it should. It would inevitably lead us back into ruin, and with what could be a full-fledged war with the Chiss, this division that we're now seeing among ourselves cannot be tolerated. Is that understood?"
"I understand, Uncle Luke," Jacen replied with a surprisingly calm tone. "You want to take total control of the Order because you think that it's the best course of action. What I don't understand is how you expect that to prevent any other Jedi to disobey you in the future like Saba."
"It's quite simple, Jacen. After I deliver Saba's eulogy tomorrow, I will, of course, allow other Jedi who knew her personally to speak their piece about her. And when that's done, I will declare myself Grand Master of the Jedi Order."
Jacen's eyes widened in shock. "What?"
"You heard me correctly. And after I do that, I will ask any Jedi who cannot commit their lives to this Order completely must renounce themselves from it."
"I imagine you'll have a lot of dropouts then," Jacen said bitterly.
"Perhaps I will. But I see no other feasible choice now. Everything that's happened at Hlest, though it may seem small compared to the Killik crisis that led up to it, has been an undeniable disaster that will have greater implications for us in the future. And part of it has been the result of at least two of my Jedi who couldn't control their own feelings.
"You may think that I'm too concerned with the public relations side of things here, Jacen, but you have to understand that that's a big part of what keeps this Order functioning as well as it has been in the years since I've reestablished the Jedi as a collective entity. And if you think that what I'm doing is not what the Jedi should be doing, then I ask you right now whether or not you feel that you would commit yourself completely to this Order."
Jacen was silent for several heartbeats before he responded. "May I answer that tomorrow, after you declare yourself Grand Master?"
"I will allow you to think on it until then," Luke said stiffly.
"Thank you, Uncle Luke."
"You're welcome, Jacen," Luke replied amicably. "Now that's all I have to say to you. Is there anything you wish to say to me before I dismiss you?"
"Yes, there is. Do you think that not allowing Saba to be part of this mission in the first place was still a good idea, Uncle Luke?"
Luke kept himself composed in spite of the biting nature of the question. "If you must know, Jacen, I admittedly hold some regret for what happened to Saba. But the fact of the matter remains is that she made her decisions, just as Jaina made hers. And if I begin doubting whether or not I should have allowed Saba to enter a compromised position where she could have potentially made things even worse than they are now, then I fear that the Jedi Order will fall within my lifetime."
"I see. Then I have another question for you. Are you concerned that allowing me to go after Jaina will compromise me emotionally or will it make you look like you're being acting under nepotism?"
Luke sighed. "Both, honestly. But there's more to it than that, Jacen. It's not just that I fear that it will make me look weak or that I look like a hypocrite in allowing my nephew a special privilege to save my niece. If I were to allow you to go off after Jaina when I had previously barred Saba from doing the same for Tesar, then her death will have been in vain."
"Or it could be a tacit admission to the Order that you had been wrong to bar her from saving Tesar."
"Would it be?"
"It could."
"Then what? It would simultaneously serve as an example that all our Jedi can be open to doing whatever they think is right, and that they can freely disregard whatever I have to say as if it were a piece of litter on the sidewalk. And look what happened when that was the case; you, Jaina, and the other Myrkr survivors went off to side with the Killiks against the Chiss without even knowing that you were all being manipulated by Sith! No, Jacen, I can't just allow Saba's death to serve as an example for something that I did wrong."
"But you think you did something wrong, didn't you, Uncle Luke?"
"I hate to say it, but I do think that. I think that maybe I should have called Kyp and Wonetun back to Ossus; maybe I should have just told Corran to allow Saba to help him, you, Jaina, and Lowie in finding Tesar, Alema, and Tahiri. Maybe I had been wrong to think that Saba getting involved would have only ruined things; maybe she could have helped saved Tesar, if not Alema and Tahiri, too. But we can't know that, now can we? All we have now are the consequences, and I have to be the one who does the best I can to mend the wounds of those consequences."
"So, instead of owning up to your mistakes, you're going to make Saba's death an example of what happens when Jedi disobey you?"
"Are you implying something, Jacen?"
"Yes, I'm implying something. Why aren't you allowing yourself to listen to the Force to tell you what's right?"
Luke looked shocked by that question. "You really think that I haven't, Jacen? You think I didn't trust my feelings in the Force when I tried to prevent Saba from leaving Ossus to try to save Tesar? I remember what Saba was feeling when I last spoke to her; her whole being was drenched in the anxiety that she felt for her son.. I trusted her to come around to being a proper Jedi Master and do what was right by staying out of the way, and that was in spite of my continued reticence on leaving her alone. Then look what happened."
"So you sense something similar from me about Jaina?"
"Of course I do, Jacen."
"Then I have nothing more to say until tomorrow, Uncle Luke. Good day to you."
"Good day to you, Jacen."
The Knight then turned and headed toward the exit. But he stopped and turned back just as Luke seated himself behind his desk.
"There is one more thing, actually," Jacen said.
"What is it?" Luke asked patiently enough.
"If you fear that this Order will become weak if you start looking weak, Uncle Luke, then maybe you should start making sure that your and Aunt Mara's relationship with my parents gets repaired as soon as possible."
Then Jacen left, leaving Luke's jaw opened by what his nephew just told him.
. . .
Jaina had been staying in one of the Common Ground's motels for the past two days, and yet, every time she ventured out to its shops, foodcourts, and especially the cantinas, she hadn't spotted any Chiss military officers lounging around on shoreleave yet. Apparently, she must have come at a bad time this year; she hoped she wouldn't have to spend too much more time here. Not that the Common Ground wasn't a nice space station; she just didn't want to attract any unwanted attention from the people who actually worked and/or lived here.
However, she had taken the time to purchase and apply some much-needed prostheses, makeup, and a blonde wig to cover up what she figured would be a recognizable face by now. If she hadn't been wanted by the Chiss for her supposed crimes against them, she wouldn't have been so worried on her first day here about getting caught by some Defense Force officer who had been relaxing. Fortunately for her, she had been able to get the correct facial cover-ups without anyone being the wiser about her identity; it was too bad that Plekos hadn't been able to provide her with a makeup kit, since he himself never felt the need for one.
"If I ever find the need for something like that, I've screwed up in my job and should just bail out," he had told her before he dropped her off here.
But Jaina would wait here for as long as possible. Even if she attracted too much attention overtime and had to destroy this whole bloody station just to attract some Chiss attention so she could be that much closer to killing Jag, she would do it. But for now, she would wait.
By the end of the second day, after she was in the midst of walking back to her motel room, she saw on a flashing billboard overhead that there was a new arrival: the crew of the Chiss cruiser Aranok.
Jaina grinned. Now was time to see which of them spoke Basic, which was weak-minded enough to fall for her charms, and then learn from that prey how she could stowaway aboard the Aranok. Right now, though, all she had to do was wait for them to board this station and follow them—discretely, of course—to whichever cantina they walked to.