Han shifted in his seat, wearing a dark scowl.

"I can't believe you woke me up this early for some durn meeting." He grumbled.

Leia hid a smile, knowing he was just crabby about not being able to sleep in.

"Blame Luke." She said simply. "He's the one that called the meeting."

"Yeah." Han admitted. "But you're the one that said I needed to come."

"Think of it as a cultural experience." Leia suggested. "A day in the life of a Jedi Master."

"Actually," Mara grinned from the seat in front of Leia, "this really isn't a typical day at all." She jerked her thumb at her husband. "Farmboy doesn't even get out of bed 'til the lunch bell most days."

"That's not entirely true." Luke protested. "I get up earlier than that on the mornings I have classes to teach."

"Besides," Han broke back in, "I've seen enough of the Jedi life to know it wouldn't ever work for me." He grinned as Leia rolled her eyes. "It's the kids you need to be convincing." He looked around the room. "Speaking of the kids," he mused, "where are they?"

"Coming." Luke assured him, smiling. "Jaina was in the midst of trying to wake up Kyp and Colonel Fel when I last talked to her."

Han stared at Luke, immediately going into father mode. "You sent my baby girl to wake up two sleeping males?!"

"Yes, Solo." Mara's voice was dry. "' Waking someone up' does usually mean they were asleep." She smirked. "And I do believe they were male the last time they checked."

Han glared at Mara before turning to Luke. "I don't remember her sense of humor being this vicious."

Luke smiled. Hormones. He mouthed.

Mara promptly kicked him.

"So Jaina's coming." Leia entered the conversation smoothly. "What about Jacen?"

Luke frowned lightly. "I called his comm earlier, but he wasn't answering. Tenel Ka was headed down there to find him."

Han groaned. "You're just trying to get my kids in trouble."

Leia looked at Han in mild disapproval. "Please have a little more faith in your son and daughter, who are no longer children, by the way."

Han shifted again. "It's not my kids I don't trust." He looked at his wife. "And if I say they're kids, they that's what they are."

Luke was hiding a grin at the entire exchange. "Anyway, Jacen should be coming. He might be late, though."

Han scowled. "How is it Jacen's supposed to be the responsible Jedi here, and he's allowed to be late, and I'm not?"

"Jacen has two children." Luke said simply.

The door opened then, and Jaina walked in, followed by a barely-coherent Kyp Durron, and an immaculate Colonel Fel.

"I swear I've never seen a wrinkle on that kid." Han muttered.

Leia just elbowed him.

"Mom." Jaina hugged her mother. "Hey, Dad."

Han hugged his daughter. "Hey, sweetheart."

"What, no lecture?" Leia whispered as their twenty-one-year-old daughter moved to sit down.

"Nah." He shook his head. "Kyp would've looked guilty if I'd needed to talk to her."

"What about Jag?" Leia was incredulous.

Han turned slightly to stare at her. "Leia, honestly. If I though Fel had touched her, I would've shot him when he walked in the room. Besides," he faced the front of the room, "it takes two to do anything."

Leia had to laugh at that.

"Where's Jace?" Jaina wanted to know.

Luke sighed. "Coming." He purposefully didn't mention the other half of his earlier statement.

Jaina nodded.

Tahiri waltzed through the door then, bypassing everyone in the room to go straight Mara.

She handed a datapad to the older woman. "I just finished this."

Mara nodded. "Thanks, Tahiri. I meant to ask you last night, how was Ben?"

Tahiri grinned. "Like you have to ask. He was great."

"Good." Mara grinned dryly. "Not quite sure where he gets that angel gene."

"Certainly not from you." Luke muttered, smiling.

"Got that right." Mara shot back.

Luke looked up as the door opened again, revealing one Keil-laden Jacen, followed closely by Tenel Ka.

"What happened?" Luke stared incredulously at Jacen's wrapped hands.

"Do not even ask." Jacen shook his head adamantly.

"This is a fact." Luke could've sworn he saw Tenel Ka swiftly cover an out-of-character smile, but he shook his head, dismissing it on a week of two-hour sleep times.

"All right, then, since everyone is here, we'll go ahead and start." Luke pulled small microwave remote out of his pocket. "We got this from the Bilbringi's NRI branch a couple of weeks ago. I want you to just watch this and then tell me what you think." He punched a button on the remote, angling it in the general direction of the holoprojector mounted on the wall.

The bodies lay on the floor in complete disarray, the only order seeming to be the patterns of blood on the floor. The dust falling through the air had a strange pink hue, as if even the air was saturated with blood. Angry words were scrawled across the durasteel walls, the blood they were written in smearing and running down the surface until the characters were almost entirely indecipherable. Almost.

"Jei kelrizkk." Tahiri murmured in horror.

Tenel Ka muttered something Dathomirian in agreement.

"Why are we seeing this now?" Jaina demanded. "Don't tell me the Vong recorded this three years ago and sent it now to taunt us."

"No." Luke was quiet. "They didn't. The Outlander project only disappeared a month ago."

He distinctly heard Han swearing amid the murmurs from the others.

"Master Skywalker," Leia turned, just now noticing Taan's slight shadowy form in the back corner, "that yorrik coral is not the right color."

Jaina turned, frowning. "What do you mean?"

Taan turned her large silver-green eyes on the pilot. "The yorrik coral from the war was a lighter pink because it was grown on Belkadan. The nutrients there were unusual." She gestured at the frozen holo. "The dust you see is yorrik coral particles, but it is not the same."

"She's right." Tahiri was looking closer at the paused image. "That dust is almost black."

Taan nodded. "Do you remember it?"

"Why would she..." Jacen trailed off, his heart sinking.

"Yes." Tahiri whispered, her eyes dull.

"I don't understand." Jag spoke, frowning.

"It's too dark to be yorrik coral from Belkadan, meaning this isn't from the war." Tahiri explained. "But the color matches the stuff they grow at home."

"Home?" Jag was still frowning.

"Home. Yuuzhan Vong home." Tahiri whispered. "And that stuff should all be dead. Was dead, in fact, before the war even ended."

Silence.

"Great stars." Leia broke the stillness first. "They're back."