Nearly a week after leaving Sinkhole Station, the Solo Quest II and the two Jedi Blastboats that had K'Kruhk, Kyle, and Jaden dropped out of hyperspace in a system located somewhere between the Maw and Wild Space. The three vessels' inhabitants found themselves facing a lush jungle world with thin-seeming streams of water that were barely perceptible from orbit.
"Prepare for atmospheric entry," Luke said over the comm frequency from the Quest's copilot seat.
From the pilot seat, Jacen was stoically ready to fly the ship at his uncle's command; the words that Luke had said to him when they last spoke were placed in the backs of both of their minds. Kyp, meanwhile, was seated in the nav chair with a continued air of shame over having been manipulated by Jaina into inadvertently allowing her to escape from their custody.
Two clicks were broadcast through the transmission as a reply, indicating that the Blastboats' inhabitants were ready to comply.
Minutes later, the three vessels had breached the atmosphere and soared down through the daytime skies toward the coordinates that Jaina had left for them. As they approached the coordinates' location, they found a giant yellow ziggurat that elicited a certain memory from Jacen.
"That looks like the Great Temple on Yavin 4," Kyp pointed out. "Before the Vong invaded, of course."
"So it does," Luke said in a distracted tone. He activated the comm again. "Master K'Kruhk, Master Katarn, I only see one clearing near that ziggurat that's large enough to park the Quest. Do either of you mind finding another clearing for yourselves, even if it is further away?"
"I think we'll each find a place to set down, Master Skywalker," Kyle's voice returned. "Hopefully, they won't be too far away."
"No need to worry about us, Master Skywalker" K'Kruhk followed up. "The sooner we find the Dagger of Mortis, the better."
"Thank you both," Luke said. He signed off.
Less than a minute later, Jacen parked the Quest in the clearing that Luke had mentioned, which was located less than a kilometer away from the ziggurat. Not long after, they and Kyp disembarked and began walking through the thick jungle around them toward their destination; above, the sounds of the Blastboats roared overhead as their pilots searched for a suitable place to set down.
"Who here hopes that we won't have to encounter any ancient booby traps when we get to that ziggurat?" Kyp asked despite his somber mood. "I know it sounds like a holodrama cliche, but still."
"If there were booby traps, Jaina would've warned us about them," Jacen replied without an ounce of humor.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Luke said as he climbed over a fallen log that got in their way.
After Jacen and Kyp traversed that log, the former asked, "Why do you say that, Master Skywalker?"
"We can't be certain that what she saw in the Pool of Knowledge was entirely accurate," Luke said evenly without taking his eyes off from the path ahead. "Or if she got a vision that gave her a full picture of what we may or may not face."
"Or if she was deliberately withholding information," Jacen added. "Is that what you wanted to say, Master Skywalker?"
At that, Luke stopped in his tracks, prompting Jacen and Kyp to do so, too, before he looked at his nephew.
"Is there something that you want to say, Jedi Solo?" Luke asked evenly.
"Yes, Master Skywalker," Jacen replied as he defiantly crossed his arms over his chest; whatever shame he felt when he last spoke to Luke was all but gone now. "I have to wonder, if you have any doubts as to what Jaina told us, why go along with it at all?"
"Before I answer that, I have to ask: why are you only asking this now, Jedi Solo?" Luke inquired patiently.
"Because I have my own doubts as to whether or not your judgment in this mission is all that clear, Master Skywalker," Jacen replied carefully.
"Is that so? Well, Jedi Solo, I could say the same about you, if I'm being honest."
"In what way do you feel as if my own judgment has been compromised, Master Skywalker?"
"You already know the answer to that. We have discussed it."
Jacen vented through his nostrils before he quickly regained his composure. "Alright. But you still didn't answer my question."
"As to why I put any veracity in your sister's claims?"
Jacen nodded wordlessly.
"It's quite simple: because we have no better leads. Even if Jaina is a dubious source at best, she is the only source that we can remotely rely upon in locating the Dagger of Mortis."
"Okay. But still, why do you think it's a good idea to bring me along on this stretch of the mission, Master Skywalker?"
"Because I still have just enough trust in you, Jedi Solo, to know that you would not do anything to compromise this mission. Purposefully, anyway."
That almost sounded like an apology to Jacen about what Luke had last said to him about withholding his knowledge of seeing, through the Pool of Knowledge, Jaina as Darth Judicar leading a group of Sith through one of the Jedi Temples. But as it was, Jacen couldn't help but feel slightly offended by his uncle's patronizing tone to him.
"Will that be all, Jedi Solo?" Luke intoned; it was clear that he expected no other answer than, "Yes."
So Jacen said, "Yes," in as civil a tone as he could muster; if it weren't for the fact that they and the other Jedi with them were looking for the only weapon that could truly kill Abeloth, he might have allowed this to devolve into a full-blown argument, regardless of the outcome, just so he could vent his frustrations.
Without any more words between them, they and Kyp, who had regarded the brief conversation between Luke and Jacen with quiet anxiety, resumed their course for the ziggurat.
Less than half an hour later, the three Jedi had finally stepped out from the dense vegetation around them and into the clearing that led directly to the great structure. From there, they proceeded toward the man-sized opening at the ziggurat's base and went inside, ever wary in their Force-senses about potential dangers that they could possibly face.
But for all of the nervousness that they kept hidden even in their subdued Force-presences, Luke, Jacen, and Kyp encountered no hidden obstacles or traps that, as the latter pointed out, would have been in keeping with a hokey holodrama adventure. Instead, for the next hour of walking through the dusty corridors and up the archaic staircases that they encountered, the nervousness that each of them felt gradually drained into boredom mixed in with the continued unresolved tension between Luke and Jacen. And that boredom was no more alleviated even when they felt K'Kruhk, Kyle, and Jaden enter the ziggurat several levels below them.
Still, at some point during the course of their impromptu tour, Jacen couldn't help but remark, "There's nothing in here that says anything. Like hieroglyphics or cuneiform. It's like this place was built for one simple reason."
"And that reason would be?" Kyp asked.
"Probably just to house something," Jacen replied, "or a buncha somethings."
"That may very well have been the case," Luke said.
"But if that's so," Kyp said, "why not put in any booby traps?"
"Maybe because the owners or builders didn't think anyone would be able to find this place," Luke suggested.
"Then why create something so obvious as a ziggurat in the middle of a jungle?" Kyp asked.
"Perhaps it's the planet they didn't expect to be found," Jacen posited. He shrugged. "I could guess, though, that whoever made this ziggurat, whether it's the Killiks or someone else, probably went by the mindset of, 'If anyone can find this planet, they probably deserve to find the Dagger of Mortis,' or something like that."
"Well, whatever the reason," Luke said, "we can only hope that the rest of this tour will go as smoothly."
Indeed, it did, for at the end of that hour, the three of them reached the ziggurat's top level. There, they stopped at the threshold of the room that led directly to their quarry: a dagger with a blade the size of an average human adult's arm resting atop of a raised dais in the room's center. Above them, a hole in the ceiling allowed a beam of sunlight to spill in and shine directly upon what was no doubt the Dagger of Mortis, as if it were the Force telling Luke, Jacen, and Kyp that, yes, they had found what they had come for.
Tentatively, the three Jedi stepped in and approached the Dagger as if it might suddenly spring to life and attack them like a wild animal. But once they stepped up to the dais, Luke was the one to wrap his natural hand around the hilt as he placed the palm of his artificial hand beneath the flat end of the Dagger's blade before he gingerly lifted it from the dais entirely.
Then, in an instant, he flipped the Dagger so that its tip was pointing to the ceiling and its pommel was fully wrapped within his natural hand's grasp while he appraised the blade more closely.
After a moment, that blade started glowing with swirls of soft blue light; Luke almost dropped the Dagger while Jacen and Kyp each backed away a step. Still, none of them took their eyes off of the weapon.
Mere moments later, K'Kruhk, Kyle, and Jaden arrived and all three of them stopped just after passing through the threshold to gawk at the Dagger.
"Can you feel anything from it, Uncle Luke?" Jacen asked reverently.
"Yes, Jacen," Luke responded in the same tone, uncaring of his nephew's lack of formality in addressing him now. "I can. It feels... empowering."
And right then, the growing sense of awe that all six Jedi felt was suddenly doused by an oily sense of darkness that came over them instantaneously.
When they got their senses together, they all reached out through the Force to find the source of that darkness; it came from up above, in several presences that had a unifying mind that bound them together.
Abeloth.
Hurriedly, the six Jedi rushed out from where they came and began hurrying down the steps to exit the ziggurat before their intended victim killed them first.
. . .
It's not too late to turn back, Callista said in Abeloth's hive-mind. You can still save yourself.
All of Abeloth's avatars—from the ones that she brought to this system to the ones still on Pydyr—growled in response to Callista's suggestion.
They found the Dagger! Abeloth replied. I must stop them and then destroy it! I must do it now!
But what about Luke? Don't you want your King to be with you?
Abeloth hissed. It is what you want, really.
No, you want it, too. You can't deny it.
And what if I do? There is nothing you can do to stop me from going against that desire, dear friend. Abeloth's tone seethed with contempt for Callista. There is nothing you can do to save Luke now.
Please, you don't have to do this.
Abeloth chucked viciously. Is that desperation I hear from you now? It is. Yes. Oh, Callista, you poor thing, I do so wish you would get over him. I did, after some thought; but then, I need not tell you that. You know that already.
You cannot win, Callista communed stubbornly.
Spare me your defiant platitudes, Abeloth growled. I will end this here!
Then the Nest Refuge and the motley squadron of starfighters—two X-wings, three Y-wings, four Uglies, and three Z-95 Headhunters—soared toward the planet that had been the home of the Dagger of Mortis for an untold number of years.
. . .
As soon as the six Jedi exited the ziggurat in a hurry, Kyp went with K'Kruhk back to the Whiphid's Blastboat while Kyle and Jaden ran off to theirs. That left Luke and Jacen to begin their own quickened trek back to the Solo Quest II, which was expedited by them using bursts of Force-speed to cover the distance and clear through the foliage faster than when they were walking.
Thus, they had both returned to the Quest just as the sky overhead roared with the sounds of the ships that were each piloted by an avatar of Abeloth. Without a second wasted, Luke and Jacen were back aboard the YT-2600 and had the vessel up and running again within seconds before it lifted off meet the Abeloths.
Once the Quest was in range of the enemy ships, Jacen activated his vessel's belly turret and allowed Luke, who had set the Dagger of Mortis on the console next to him, to man the turret. The Knight, meanwhile, started evasive maneuvers as the enemy vessels started to spew laserfire down toward them.
Of course, Jacen was smart enough to not engage directly with any of the vessels; instead, he continued the Quest's climb up through the skies, jinking and juking every which way in the process to avoid as many lasers as he could, while Luke did his best to ward off the enemy ships with his own laserfire; indeed, by the time they breached out of the stratosphere, Luke had taken out one of the X-wings by blowing off one of its port S-foils, which sent it spiraling down to the jungle canopy below.
Not long before the skies of this world gave way to the star-studded blackness of space, the two Jedi Blastboats had joined the fray, with one of them completely blowing away a Headhunter while another sent a Y-wing to meet the same fate as the X-wing that Luke killed. Mere moments after that, they had all but cleared the planet's gravity and were now free to engage without as much drag to their maneuvers.
"Jacen," Luke said without taking his eyes from the forward viewport, "it's pointless to fight here. If we're gonna be able to use the Dagger, we need to get somewhere where we can fight Abeloth face-to-face, and that's not gonna happen here."
"So we leave?" Jacen asked as he performed a barrel roll away from a pincer attack from one of the remaining Y-wings and the surviving Headhunter.
"We leave," Luke said. He activated the comm. "My fellow Masters, we have to leave this system ASAP! Acknowledge and follow our lead!"
The clicks on the other end signified the four other Jedi's compliance, which was enough for Luke to undo his crash-webbing and seat himself in the nav chair.
"Where we headed?" Jacen asked as he dove down to avoid another pincer movement from two of Abeloth's fighters.
"Like I said, outta here!" Luke said as he worked the navcomp as quickly as he could. "From there, we'll see! Now try to get a stable heading!"
"Yeah, not a problem," Jacen remarked sarcastically before cutting a sharp turn to port to avoid a wash of lasers from the rear.
Still, despite the difficulties they faced, Jacen soon settled the Quest into a more or less straight path while doing his best to shake his pursuers' rear fire.
And within moments, Luke shouted, "Got it!" He then practically jumped back into the copilot seat, pulled down the hyperdrive lever, and launched the Quest into hyperspace.
Not long after that, the Blastboats corkscrewed their way through the remaining Abeloth fighters and followed in the YT-2600's wake.