Somewhere in the Unknown Regions, the Millennium Falcon dropped out of hyperspace into a system with only a blue dwarf star in the distance. Alongside her, a fleet of StealthX Jedi starfighters joined and now faced the Jade Shadow.

In the latter ship's cockpit, Jacen answered the incoming transmission from the Falcon. "Jade Shadow here."

"We got the entirety of the Jedi Order here, kid," the voice of Han Solo said over the frequency. "Except for Jaina; she's still investigating for Jag to bring the war with the Mandos to an end."

"She's safe, Dad. I can feel it."

"As can I," came Leia's voice from the other end.

"Of course she is," Han said with a slightly relieved tone.

"How's Uncle Luke?" Jacen asked.

There was a brief silence before Han replied soberly. "He still thinks you're Caedus and that killing you will somehow bring Mara and Ben back to him; we got him locked up in the Falcon's cargo hold."

"We made sure that the ysalamir that Tekli used to nullify his Force-powers came along," Leia added. "It's been placed just outside the hold so your uncle can't get to it."

"But we have discovered a way to make sure that won't be necessary," Tekli said; apparently, she was also in the Falcon's cockpit with Han and Leia. "Because of the mystical nature of Master Skywalker's affliction, I bypassed looking into any medicinal treatments and went directly into looking into the Jedi Temple's historical database for a solution.

"I found one just before we had to evacuate Shedu Maad from the Sith. It's quite simple, but it won't be easy; you have to kill every single Sith who was directly involved in the ceremony that established the Force trap that affected Master Skywalker's mind."

Jacen's eyes widened. "Do you have Sith Saber Odrok Degron?"

"We got him off Shedu Maad with the rest of us so the Sith couldn't rescue him," Han explained. "We have tied up in the Falcon's dorsal turret with his own ysalamir nearby and just out of reach. And don't worry, I shut down controls to the cannon so he can't operate it from there if he broke free. Why do you wanna see him, Jacen?"

"I just wanted to give him some petty scolding for lying about there being no cure to Uncle Luke's affliction," Jacen replied. "That, and to ask him who, aside from Grand Lord Darish Vol, was responsible for what happened to Luke."

"He claimed not to have known about how to undo the effects when we confronted him about the matter," Tekli stated. "But whether he was lying or is genuinely ignorant about that, I still doubt he'd be willing to tell you who you had to kill to get Master Skywalker back to normal, Jacen."

"Oh, trust me, just get him to the Kathol Rift and he'll be singing the same tune he did when he told me about Kesh. But even if that doesn't work on him again, I'll just remind him that Grand Lord Vol and the other Lost Tribe High Lords will want him dead just for telling the Jedi Order about their homeworld. Put him through so I can-"

Before Jacen could finish that sentence, the ChaseMaster Sith fleet dropped out from behind the Millennium Falcon and the StealthX configuration and immediately began opening fire on them and the Jade Shadow. Obviously, all of the Sith's enemy ships began evasive maneuvers and firing back at the capital ships even as the latter discharged several squadrons of mixed fighters for engagement.

"Never mind about Degron!" Jacen said as he divided his attention as best as he could between flying the Shadow and talking. "Tekli, do you remember where Zonama Sekot was when you and Tahiri left it?"

"You want me to bring the Jedi fleet to Zonama, Jacen?" Tekli asked.

"I hope that's not a problem!" he exclaimed just before he veered out of the way of a proton torpedo that was fired from one of the ChaseMasters.

"If it is, I hope Sekot can forgive us for leading a Sith fleet to her!" Tekli replied. "But I don't remember the exact coordinates, it's been so-"

"Don't worry about that right now!" Jacen exclaimed as he ducked beneath laserfire from a Sith-piloted X-wing that Corran managed to blow out of the sky; the Jedi Master was the one to operate the Shadow's weapons controls. "Dad, relay coordinates for the rest of the Jedi fleet that'll take 'em further into the Unknown Regions! When you're safe from the Sith fleet for a while, work with-"

Jacen was cut off from saying anymore when the Shadow took a few turbolaser hits to her aft; he immediately placed the ship into an upward corkscrew before he continued with, "Work with Tekli to determine where Zonama Sekot was when she and Tahiri left it years ago! And if it's not there, we'll keep looking!"

"We'll do what we can, Jacen!" Han exclaimed. An audible grunt from him followed, and then the signal was abruptly cut off.

Thankfully, since Jacen could still feel that his parents were still alive, he knew that it was just because they either shut it off to focus on the battle or they took a hit that damaged their signal transceiver. So, as it was, it was time for him to try a plan that he knew was as stupid as it was desperate.

"Corran, take the helm!" Jacen said.

"What?" Corran replied in disbelief.

"Just do it! I have a plan! Valin, take control of the weapons!"

Corran's son, Valin, entered the cockpit just as Jacen vacated the pilot seat for Corran; right away, Valin took the copilot seat to operate the Shadow's lasers.

Once Jacen saw that both Horns' were squarely focused on the battle, he closed his eyes to concentrate as he reached out through the Force to locate Grand Lord Darish Vol's presence in the ChaseMaster fleet.

Then, as soon as he did, Jacen initiated the Aing-Tii teleportation method.

When he opened his eyes, he stood right in front of a stunned Vol on the bridge of his ChaseMaster, surrounded by many loyal followers.

Before Vol could do anything to respond, Jacen flipped over him, activated his lightsaber, and leveled the blade up by the Grand Lord's throat even as he used his free arm to pull the Keshiri close to him.

"Back away!" Jacen called out to the bridge crew. "Or I decapitate your precious Grand Lord right here!"

Everyone else on the bridge, Vestara Khai included, froze in place as they looked at Jacen and Vol.

"You have my full attention, Solo," Vol said glibly. "Now why don't you simply kill me right here, right now?"

"Who were the other members in the ceremony on Kavan, Vol?" Jacen intoned. When Vol didn't immediately respond, Jacen yelled, "Answer me!"

Vol's reply was a deep, throaty laugh. "So you figured out how to undo the curse that my subordinates and I placed on your uncle, Solo?" he retorted. "Well, in that case..."

A sudden Force-wave that blew out from Vol's very being sent Jacen flying back across the bridge, where he ended up hitting the bulkhead behind him and collapsing prone to the deck just as his then-deactivated lightsaber clattered away from his grip.

"If you wanted to make an ultimatum, Solo," Vol said as he turned and approached the downed Jacen, "you should have, at the very least, provided an incentive that would have guaranteed the safety of my life."

Jacen Force-pulled his lightsaber back into his palms just as he stood up and activated it again.

Vol waved off all the other Sith on the bridge who were about to approach Jacen. "He's mine," the Grand Lord declared before he activated his own lightsaber.

Vol then leaped across the bridge toward Jacen, but when he slashed down at the Jedi, the latter had already rolled out of the way and to the bridge's exit. Vol then Force-sprinted toward Jacen, where he, with his vicious strikes, quickly drove the Knight off the bridge and into the corridor outside.

However, instead of blocking each of Vol's attacks, Jacen resorted more to dodging and leaping out of the way, allowing his momentum to carry him off the bulkheads around him and letting Vol slash violently away at the walls and deck.

"You can't evade me forever, Solo!" Vol declared in between strikes.

"Oh, yeah? Watch me!" Jacen taunted.

That prompted an angry howl from Vol, which increased the ferocity of his attacks as he continued to drive Jacen down the corridor.

Eventually, Jacen and Vol had reached an intersection in the hallway, and the Jedi quickly disengaged and ran down the branch to his left. As he did so, he deactivated his lightsaber and replaced it to his belt so that he could focus both on running and on using the Force to blow out all the lights along the way, leaving Vol to chase him in darkness.

The Grand Lord growled before he replaced his lightsaber to his belt, which was the only thing lighting the way before him, and discharged a torrent of Force-lightning from both hands along the darkened path before him.

But when the electricity lit the way, it only struck the bulkhead that terminated this junction, as Jacen was nowhere in sight.

And that was because he himself had used a quick burst of Force-speed to exit this corridor at the next intersection to his right; here, with no other Sith present, he activated his lightsaber again to cut a circle into the deck around his feet. Jacen then plunged into the hole right before Vol entered the junction to find that hole.

Naturally, he followed suit to continue his pursuit of Jacen.

. . .

"Does everyone have the coordinates?" Han asked over the Jedi's fleetwide frequency; he managed to dodge the Falcon away from a pair of concussion missiles that was fired by a ChaseMaster as he did so.

"Everyone among the StealthXs has clicked in, Han!" Kyp Durron's voice replied over the frequency. "We can go!"

"Wait, what about Jacen?" Leia asked from the copilot seat.

"What about Jacen?" Han managed to spare a concerned look at his wife before he had to dodge the Falcon from ramming into a Sith-piloted Y-wing.

"He's on one of those ChaseMasters!" Leia exclaimed. "I feel his presence there!"

"He teleported?!" Han exclaimed. "Ah, great! Kyp, I hope you don't mind if we hold out a little longer for Jacen to get back to the Shadow?"

"Uh, yeah, but what's he doing on a ChaseMaster in the first place?" Kyp asked with a stressed tone.

"I think I have an idea!" Tekli stated as she struggled to remain standing upright between the pilot and copilot seats. She then asked over the frequency, "Master Horn, when did Jacen teleport out of the Jade Shadow?"

"Twelve minutes ago, I think," Corran replied. "But I wasn't really keeping track of time then!"

"All right, people, we'll hold out just a little bit longer," Kyp announced.

. . .

In the darkened hangar bay of the Uvak's Prey, only Grand Lord Vol's crimson-bladed lightsaber lit his way.

"You really want me all for yourself, huh, Vol?" Jacen Solo's voice rang out through the bay. "Don't even wanna get any of your goons to join in on this hunt? I'd have thought you'd want them to witness you killing me as payback for that little surprise attack that we Jedi pulled on you back on Kesh."

"Oh, I don't intend to kill you here, Solo. I'll let you live... but not to escape. Oh, no. I'm going to take you in alive so that when I do kill you, it will be a glorious public execution on Kesh. It will be long and grueling for you, and it will be a great day for the Lost Tribe of the Sith. So before this is over, consider this the last moments of peace that you will have in your life."

"Hmm. You know, speaking of moments," Solo said in a much more conversational tone, "how long has it been since I teleported onto your bridge? I seem to have lost track of the time."

"What does that matter?" Vol asked.

"Well, if I'm gonna have some final moments of peace before you capture me and have me sent back to Kesh for a torturous public execution, I'd like to know how long it's been since I surprised you on your bridge."

Vol struggled for a moment to understand why Solo was so interested in how much time had passed before a thought crossed his mind. Then he grinned.

"Before I answer your question, Solo, answer mine: why didn't you simply teleport me back to your ship once you had me in your grasp? It was obvious you wanted me alive."

Only silence answered Vol.

The Grand Lord chuckled. "There's a limit to how often you can perform that technique, is there? And all the while you've been running from me, you've been buying yourself time so that you can teleport again, only with me as your captive. That's it, isn't it?"

Again, Solo didn't answer. And again, Vol chuckled.

"If you want to know how much time has passed, Solo... here's my chronometer." Vol took the aforementioned device from within his robes and tossed it lightly forward, losing it in the dark. "All you have to do is take it. Oh, and for a point of reference, it was about three-thirty-two when you teleported aboard the bridge."

Vol took a few cautious steps forward until the chronometer was within the light of his lightsaber.

The second that it was pulled away by Solo's Force-grip, Vol seized on it and used it as a point of reference to seek out the Jedi's location. The Grand Lord then took hold of Solo through the Force and pulled him bodily toward him until his neck ended up in the palm of his free hand.

Vol leered at Solo, who struggled to breathe as he looked back at him.

Then he held up the chronometer near Vol's face, where the light of his weapon showed that it was 4:03.

Vol's grin dropped as Jacen grabbed onto his shoulders and teleported them.

When next they appeared, they were in the Jade Shadow's passenger cabin, surrounded by all of the Jedi who committed the surprise attack on Kesh (save for Corran and Valin, who were still in the cockpit).

Seeing that Vol was stunned by this, Jacen used that as a distraction to break out of his grip and step away from him. He and all the other Jedi, without hesitation, then Force-pushed at Vol, restraining him in place.

"Master Horn, get us outta here now!" Jacen called out.

"Got it!" Corran called back.

Moments later, after Corran confirmed with the rest of the Jedi fleet that Jacen was back aboard the Shadow, they launched into hyperspace.

"You.. can't... hold me... forever!" Vol grunted as he struggled from the Force-trap made by the Jedi who themselves were struggling to keep him in place.

"Just like I didn't have to elude you forever, Vol," Jacen called out, "we don't have to hold you forever, either."

Jacen then allowed himself to briefly drop out of his contribution to keeping Vol in place, causing the Grand Lord to lose his balance and stumble forward slightly.

But before he could recover, Jacen had rushed in at him and slashed away the hilt of the Sith's lightsaber. Then, with the pommel of his own lightsaber, Jacen knocked Vol unconscious with a hard knock to the Keshiri's forehead.

The Jedi around Jacen and Vol then sighed in relief once they released the Force-trap.