A/N: Now both Ben and Jacen are gonna find a lot of…
Ch. 9 Trouble
Ben sat quietly in the copilot's seat next to Vix as the Jade Shadow flew down low over Mos Eisley. Vix glanced at Ben every now and then. Finally she asked, "Alright. What's going on, Ben?" Ben quickly sat up and looked at her and replied, "Uh…what do you mean? Nothing's wrong. Nope. Nothing at all." Vix fixed her gaze on him with a knowing smile. "Ben, the last time you were this quiet was when Jacen found out that you were the one who had planted a live womprat inside Kyp's gorga pie when we were six!" she exclaimed, grinning. Then her face grew serious again and she said, "Ben you know you can trust me with anything. What's bothering you?"
Ben sighed, leaned back, and finally replied, "A little while ago, I had a vision with my parents in it." Vix quickly sat up and stared seriously at him. "Go on," she said. Ben continued, "They were calling to me. They told me that someone needs help. They told me to trust in the Force to guide me…and then they just disappeared." Ben closed his eyes and remembered the image of his parents: The lithe woman with flowing red hair that was Mara Jade Skywalker and the powerful-yet-kind-looking blond man that was Luke Skywalker.
Ben and Vix sat in silence for the rest of the landing sequence. They landed just a few sand dunes from the old palace of Jabba the Hutt, which had been converted into a monastery for the Bo'marr monks. The enemy had landed a few miles away. It was dusk in the desert. As they left the Shadow, Ben suddenly felt a surge of agony in the Force. After about ten minutes of crawling through the desert sand, they peered over the last sand dune before Jabba's Palace and beheld a horrible sight.
The Bo'marr monks had been rounded up and were being tortured outside the Palace by several henchmen. The two companions could also the loathsome silhouette of a Hutt moving among the screaming Bo'marr, his loud, baritone laugh echoing into the twilight. Vix quickly tapped Ben on the shoulder and motioned to the datapad she'd brought with them. "Ben," she whispered, "I did some research and I found out that Hikta the Great is part of the Desilijic clan…the same clan as Jabba the Hutt! In fact…Hikta is Jabba's child!" Ben blinked in astonishment before regaining his calm face and grinning. He replied, "You never stop digging, do you?" Vix returned his smile with a twinkle in her eyes. Suddenly, they felt another spike of terror and agony resounding in the Force and they quickly remembered where they were. "Alright, Vix," said Ben, "I'll go there now and see if I can't convince that Hutt to spill the beans on what in the nine Corellian hells in going on." "Ben, don't just rush in!" hissed Vix, but it was too late.
Ben rushed out from behind the sand dune, lightsaber blazing.
***
Jacen strolled down the hall beside Tesar Sebatyne, Saba's son. They were discussing what to do about the strange attackers in the Senate. Funny they should be mentioning them, because a moment later, the doors to the Jedi Temple burst open. "It's another attack!" yelled Jacen. He and Tesar ignited their lightsabers and rushed forward as the same assassins who attacked the Senate began swarming in.
Jacen and the other Jedi fought hard as the attackers attempted to pillage the Temple. The attackers were armed to the teeth with thud bugs, razor bugs, amphistaffs, lightsabers and occasionally a blaster. As the battle raged deeper and deeper into the Temple's interior, many rooms were set on fire by an orangish-yellow jelly thrown by the attackers: fire jelly. Yet another weapon that had been used by the Yuuzhan Vong. Jacen, Tesar, Lowie, Kyle Katarn, and Zekk sabered several invaders who tried to break into the Council room.
When the enemy finally retreated, they had killed eighteen Jedi Knights. Jacen shook his head sadly as he deactivated his lightsaber and knelt down over the body of one of the Knights he had watched grow up and had seen dying. Suddenly, the elderly Master Tionne rushed up to Jacen. "Master Solo! Master Solo!" she yelled as she jogged up to him. "Tionne, calm down. What is it?" he asked, standing up and gently putting a hand on the old Master's shoulder. Tionne was still frantic as she replied, "Five of the Padawans have been kidnapped!"
