When Luke and Jacen sat down in the Jade Shadow's galley to look through the datapad that the Sith gave them back on Andalia, they both froze at the name of the planet that the 'pad displayed.
Kavan.
Neither of them needed to say to the other what the significance of that planet was, especially to Luke; that was the world where Jacen's clone, the future Darth Caedus, killed Luke's wife, Mara.
Unfortunately, none of the information in the 'pad told them why they had to go there; only that this place was the next step to finding Ben. A set of coordinates to a specific location on the planet followed.
"Those coordinates... that was exactly where Mara died," Luke whispered. He didn't look at Jacen when he said that; his eyes remained glued to the 'pad's screen and everything about him—his Force-presence, his body language, his facial expression—remained blank and open to interpretation.
Jacen gave his uncle about half a minute to compose himself before he spoke. "This is a part of the Sith's plan, Uncle Luke. Don't forget that. If they do have a trap set for us on Kavan, they probably made it so that the association of-"
"We have an advantage, Jacen," Luke interrupted; he looked at his nephew this time. "We know what the Sith are trying to do, and they don't know that we're on to 'em. And if they're trying a psychological tactic on me by selecting this planet, now I know that they intend to use it on me. Therefore, I can counter it."
"Do you really think it'll be that simple?" Jacen asked. "What if it's too much for you?"
"Do you think you should go alone then, Jacen?" Something in Luke's tone made it seem as if he really wanted his nephew to say "yes" to that question.
"Well... if it is a trap, and I spring it alone, we could catch the Sith unawares," Jacen suggested. "You could swoop in with the Shadow as backup and blast 'em away. And even if it gets too hairy, I could just teleport myself out of there as a last resort."
Luke looked back to the 'pad for several heartbeats. His Force-presence was still a mystery to Jacen, and the latter didn't want to pry into his uncle's private thoughts, so he let him be.
But if Jacen had to guess, Luke was thinking about whether or not sending his nephew down by himself was really a tactically sound idea or if it was just a way to distance himself from the pain provided by the location of Mara's death. Jacen himself saw the advantage of avoiding that pain; if Luke was going to be distracted in any way by the fact that he was heading to where his wife died, he would be compromising himself in a potential combat situation with the Sith.
It wasn't long before Luke turned back to his nephew and announced his decision. "No. I will go down there myself, spring the trap, and you could act as backup by blasting away the Sith."
"But, Uncle Luke-"
"We're going to Kavan," Luke interjected. "You're going to land me about a kilometer from these coordinates, then return to orbit. When you feel that I'm in danger from whatever the Sith have in store for the both of us, you come in. Is that understood, Jacen?"
"Uncle Luke, there has to be another way to find-"
"Is that understood, Jacen?" Luke's tone was a lot more forceful now.
Jacen pursed his lips to try to argue against this course of action. But he only sighed and said, "Yes, Uncle Luke."
"Good. Now tell Her Majesty that we'll be departing her ship now. I'll be headed to the cockpit to get the Shadow ready for launch." He then stood up and headed for his vessel's cockpit.
But right at the galley's exit, Luke stopped and said, "Jacen?"
"Yeah?" His reply was tinged with both concern and hope that his uncle would reconsider his choice.
"If you're worried that I'll become distracted on Kavan," Luke said before turning around to face his nephew, "that's not it. The Sith would see me as a much more valuable target than you. You are powerful, and the Sith would be fools not to consider you a threat; but between the two of us, I think they're much more interested in the Grand Master of the Jedi Order than his nephew who's still only a Knight."
"They still might be suspicious as to why I'm not with you, in that case," Jacen pointed out.
"Perhaps," Luke replied. "But regardless, if I have any demons that I need to face there, Jacen, I have to face them and I'm not going to use you as an excuse to not go down there."
"Suit yourself, Uncle Luke. I just hope you know what you're doing."
"So do I, Jacen. So do I."
Minutes later, the Jade Shadow departed from the Dragon Queen's hangar bay and jumped into hyperspace.
. . .
The first battle of the war between the Imperial Remnant and the nation of Mandalore began very suddenly, but without surprise on either side. While the Mandalorians weren't surprised since they were the ones to jump out of hyperspace and into the Borosk system, the Imperials had been prepared for just this occasion.
Years ago, Borosk had been successfully defended against the Yuuzhan Vong with its ion cannons and minefields, planetary shields, turbolasers, and the plethora of Star Destroyers that carried full complements of TIE fighters, interceptors, and bombers. The same was true now even as they were facing off against Mandalorian Bes'uliik fighters, which were equipped with beskar armor that could take a considerable amount of pounding from lasers, concussion missiles, and proton torpedoes even without energy shields.
Unfortunately for the Imps, that made the Mando fighters deadlier than anything that the Hapes Consortium, the Galactic Alliance, or even the Vong could have thrown at the Imperial Remnant.
However, that didn't mean that the significantly more fragile TIEs couldn't go toe-to-toe with their heavily-armored opponents. With the TIEs' well-renowned maneuverability, there were a lot fewer of them who were destroyed in the first wave of engagement with the Bes'uliiks than one would have thought.
Still, within that first wave, approximately forty percent of the TIEs were wiped out while barely two dozen Bes'ulliks were obliterated. And while the Imperial Star Destroyers had much better luck at blowing away some Bes'uliiks, already several of the Mando fighters were pounding away at the enemy capital ships with their armaments of lasers and physical projectiles. While the barrages from the seemingly invincible enemy fighters did little against the shields and reinforced armor of the Imp capital ships, they were still enough to give the Destroyers' gunners a hard time in blowing them away.
Half an hour in, after reducing the TIEs down to about thirty percent of their original capacity, the remaining Bes'uliiks, who had only been reduced to ninety percent, turned away and simply jumped back from where they came from.
Naturally, this left the remaining Imp forces as confused as they were distraught by what was very clearly a victory on the Mandos' part.
. . .
Minutes after their hit-and-run raid on Borosk, the Mandalorian fleet dropped out for a course correction in an unnamed system that was just across the Imperial border.
"This is only the beginning, soldiers," Mirta Gev said on the fleetwide frequency from her own Bes'uliik. "Now that we know how well we can handle ourselves at a stronghold as fortified as well as Borosk, we now know just how many more ships we need if we really wanna go up against the Imps."
"In other words, Mandalore," the voice of Belok Rhal cut in on the frequency, "you believe that the bugs need some incentive to make some capital ships for us?"
Rhal was referring to the Verpines of Roche who were mainly responsible for manufacturing the Bes'uliiks.
"Oh, yes," Gev replied with determination. "And if we need to expand ourselves and use armor that's inferior to beskar, then so be it."
"My Mandalore," the voice of Gev's husband, Ghes Orade, cut in, "the Imps will strike back on us now. We may not get the opportunity to properly set up any facilities in the galaxy to-"
"What's done is done, my husband," Gev cut in. "Don't question your Mandalore."
"Very well," Orade replied.
Before the fleet jumped back into hyperspace, Rhal, in his own Bes'uliik, smiled behind his own helmet. It was ironic that Ghes Orade should be so submissive to his wife now when he was the one who betrayed her.
Even if it was unknowingly.
But now was not the time to reminisce on that; Rhal first had to coordinate with the rest of the fleet for the next jump to Roche.