Chapter 3

The tempest had lasted only a minute, but the damage had been no less catastrophic. The Reliant had continued to fire at other ships even as it was itself being fired upon. Before too long, it had suffered enough damage that the turbolasers ceased functioning. At the same time, the other ships experienced similar failures, if not outright destruction. Shortly afterward, the firing and explosions stopped and Coruscant's orbit became as silent and still as a graveyard.

Miraculously, the Reliant remained largely intact. Despite being pockmarked with gaping holes, the hull was still in one piece. And the command superstructure had escaped critical damage, leaving those on the bridge alive. But that was the extent of the good news. Most of the ship had been vented into space and remaining sections, protected by airtight bulkheads, were completely cut off from one another. And for the survivors, there was no way off the ship.

This was not part of the plan. The same sentence played on an endless loop in Mek Dain's mind as he paced in a circle on the bridge. He was trying to come up with a plan of escape or some other reassurance that he would survive this ordeal. But his thought process was continually interrupted by that singular statement. This was not part of the plan.

Mek should not have been surprised when things did not go exactly as expected. The plan had been difficult and fraught with risk from the beginning. He had used his position of authority to obtain the remote command codes for every ship guarding Coruscant and then carefully and systematically removed his inquiries from the system so that they could not be traced back to him. Very few people in the Alliance military had access to all of the codes, so he had taken the extra precaution of creating profiles for multiple nonexistent officers and searching for the codes using their credentials. Unless someone delved too deeply into the origins of those profiles, it would appear as though multiple officers had conspired to commit treason.

Then Mek had had to send the codes to the Sith without the transmissions being detected. Even encrypted messages could be flagged if their point of origin, destination, and file size met certain requirements. Thus, he could not risk using traditional comm relays; he had had to route his messages through various underworld or black-market transceivers. It had been long, meticulous, grueling work that was unnecessary to the point of paranoid, but Mek could not take any chances.

After that, his part had been completed; he needed only wait for the Sith to make their move. While Darth Hatus had kept his plans on a need-to-know basis, he had at least deigned to tell Mek what he intended to do with the codes. The Sith had used them to create a virus that, when uploaded to the Coruscant defense mainframe, would override the Star Destroyers' systems and program them to fire on each other. At the same time, the Sith would carry out a bombing on the planet's surface, although Hatus did not give Mek any more details.

Mek had taken no issue with the plan. The hijacking and subsequent self-destruction of the Coruscant Defense Fleet coupled with the bombing would make the Galactic Alliance – and his father, in particular – look weak. The people would demand accountability, and old Chancellor Don Dain would be forced out of office. With the influence of some powerful people with secret Sith allegiance, Mek would rise to power and gain the standing he had too long been denied. And then, once the Sith had taken control of the galaxy, Hatus would put him in charge of the new galactic government.

But everything had fallen apart when the chancellor ordered Mek to be aboard the Reliant at the exact time the attack had been scheduled. Despite his protests, he had been unable to change his father's mind. So, he had contacted Hatus and asked him to alter the attack so that he would not be caught in the middle of it. But the Sith Lord had refused to accommodate him. He had even refused to provide him with a means of escape. And now, because of Hatus' betrayal, Mek was trapped on a doomed ship with no way out.

This was not part of the plan.

As it turned out, Admiral Mo'Ari and the rest of the crew were surprisingly useless. They were all wasting time fretting about damage reports and casualties and trying to get information on what had happened to the other ships. Rather than fixate on people who were already dead, they should have been focusing on saving the people who were still alive, such as Mek. Did they really not care?

It was clear to him that no one was going to do anything useful unless he stepped up and spurred them into action. He approached Mo'Ari with his most imperious stride and asked, "Admiral, what is your plan for getting everyone off this ship?"

The admiral turned his head away briefly from the officer he was conversing with and replied, "Before we do anything, we must assess the damage to the ship." With that, he returned his attention to the officer.

"We don't have time for that!" snapped Mek. "This ship could come apart at any moment, and then your assessment won't do you any good."

With a barely suppressed sigh of irritation, Mo'Ari turned around to face Mek. "If I were to simply order everyone to the nearest escape pods, they could find their paths blocked by debris or vented into space. And if the pods or their housings are damaged, they could be ripped apart if they tried to launch, or they could cause an electrical short that would disable other systems. There are a number of ways this ship could fall apart if we aren't careful, and then there wouldn't be any need for rescue."

"We are in the middle of a crisis! We need to act now! As captain, it is your duty to protect the lives of your crew!"

Mo'Ari furrowed his eyebrows and took a threatening step toward Mek. "Really? Because I seem to remember you saying that we are all expected to die 'for the greater good.' Why do you care all of a sudden?"

Mek was utterly taken aback by how unnecessarily rude that was. "How dare you!" he cried. "I am the commander of the Coruscant Defense Force, and you will speak to me with respect!"

In one deft motion, Mo'Ari drew a blaster pistol from the holster on his belt and aimed it at Mek's face. "I have no respect for traitors," he responded.

The bridge fell eerily quiet, and everyone appeared to have stopped what they were doing to watch the confrontation taking place. Mek did not know what expressions they wore upon their faces; he was too focused on the blaster pointed at his own. Panic rose to a rolling boil within him as he realized that he had been discovered. After all of the arduous steps he had taken to cover his tracks, it had amounted to nothing.

Wait. Those steps erased all evidence of my involvement in this attack. There is no proof! Mo'Ari can't possibly know it was me; he's just throwing wild accusations! Summoning all the mock outrage he could muster, he gasped loudly in disbelief and raised a finger in Mo'Ari's direction. "Th-th-th-this is insubbiddybubordinnitation! I-I-I'll have your commiddidission for this!" It was not until after he spoke that he realized how his high-pitched and overly dramatic words had stumbled out.

He fully expected to be met with laughter, but the bridge remained silent. Only then did he dare to look around the room. All eyes were fixed on him, their expressions an eclectic mix of shock, horror, grief, and simmering rage. They can't all possibly believe this! There's no proof! Trying to salvage what little dignity he had left, he faced Mo'Ari and said, "Do you realize how dangerous it is to make unfounded accusations against a superior officer in the middle of a catastrophe?"

"Unfounded?" repeated Mo'Ari. "I have all the reasoning I need. All morning, you've been even more paranoid than usual."

"I am not para—"

"You try to hide it with stubbornness and entitlement, but you fail miserably. After the explosion on the surface, you immediately tried to leave the ship and became even more paranoid when I tried to stop you. In fact, you were itching to leave even before the explosion! You knew we were about to be attacked and you wanted to escape before it happened! And you knew the Sith were behind the ship being locked down even though there was no evidence to support that!"

"You're grasping at—"

"And how do you think the Sith managed to hijack the entire fleet remotely? Someone had to have given them all the codes and access to the system. Someone high enough in the military to have all that information. Someone like you!"

"I'm not the only—"

"You're responsible for this attack! And the one on the surface! You're working with the Sith!"

"I will not allow you to make such wild accusations!" Mek cried, trying to mask his growing terror. None of what Mo'Ari had said was concrete evidence, but his allegations could open the doors to an investigation into Mek's conduct, which might shed light on his treasonous activities. He could not allow that to happen. Turning to the pair of security officers stationed near the entrance to the bridge, he ordered, "Arrest Admiral Mo'Ari!"

"Arrest Commander Dain." The admiral's low, calm voice was in stark contrast to Mek's.

The security officers strode toward them, and Mek could only hope that they would listen to the ranking officer. Instead, they each grabbed one of Mek's arms. He tried to wriggle free, tried to protest, but only a series of babbled cries came out. He realized that there was nothing he could say or do to change anyone's mind.

"What should we do with him, sir?" asked one of the officers. "We can't get him to the brig."

"Just hold onto him for a while," answered Mo'Ari. "Make sure he doesn't cause any more trouble. If we can get everyone off this ship, we'll bring him to justice. If not, he gets left behind."

Mek stared at the admiral in shock. How could he even suggest something like that? The Galactic Alliance did not leave prisoners to die! Then again, would the alternative be any better? He would spend weeks, or even months, locked in a cell awaiting trial for treason. And if he was found guilty, he would spend the rest of his life there.

And that was assuming the tribunal let his life continue.

He forced those thoughts from his head. There's still no evidence I did anything wrong. The charges wouldn't stick. They'd be forced to free me. I could still make it out of this a free man. Mek repeatedly told himself all this, hoping it would boost his confidence. But there was one thing constantly nagging at the back of his mind. The possibility of freedom hinged on Admiral Mo'Ari being able to save the entire crew of the Reliant. And the odds of that appeared very poor indeed.

Several minutes had passed since the Solo family had witnessed the gruesome murder of the newscaster, and they were still shaken from it. Ten-year-old Allana had seen her fair share of violence while accompanying her grandparents on various misadventures, but she had never seen anything so graphic. She sat in Han's lap, pale and stiff, as he tried to comfort her. Now that she's training to be a Jedi, Leia mused somberly, she's going to have to get used to it. She just wished that the girl could have kept her innocence for another few years.

Jaina lay in bed, contemplating the violent events that bookended her coma. The last thing she remembered was the Sith's terrifying new warship, which she had only just learned was called the Leviathan, and the carnage it had caused on Admiral Mo'Ari's fleet. She had barely had any time to register the horror of the situation when her fighter had been damaged and she believed that she was about to die. An instant later, to her mind, she woke up sensing even more death and destruction, except now it was on Coruscant, and she was powerless to do anything to stop it. It was all too much, too fast for her to wrap her head around.

Leia was similarly overwhelmed by the thoughts racing through her mind. Seeing that Sith warrior on the news had disturbed her even more than the murder he had committed. She could not believe that there were Sith on Coruscant at that very moment. And not just one; the continuing news coverage had revealed that multiple Sith were on a rampage, murdering anyone in their path. Despite all of the Alliance's exhaustive security measures, at least a dozen armed and armored Sith, possibly even a hundred, had arrived on Coruscant undetected.

That was not even the half of it; now the news was reporting that the entire defense fleet had destroyed itself and several civilian ships as well. And Obsidian Towers still burned. There was no doubt in Leia's mind that all three tragedies were the handiwork of the Sith. It represented a gross failure on the government's part to protect its citizens. A failure that was shared by the Jedi – by her.

We should have seen this coming. We should have sensed this. An attack of this size and complexity – there had to have been signs. They should have been obvious. How did no one see them? How did no one suspect that something was wrong? All those people didn't have to die. We should have saved them.

Her ruminations were interrupted by the sudden chirp of her personal comlink. Everyone else in the room was startled out of their respective reveries and turned to face Leia. She held the small communication device to her face and pressed the answer button. "This is Leia."

Ahsoka Tano's voice emanated from the comlink. "Leia. I assume you've been watching the news."

"Yes. I'm at the hospital with Han, Amelia, and Jaina." Leia used Allana's alias, even though she suspected that Ahsoka had already inferred the girl's true identity and importance. She added, "Jaina sensed the explosion and woke up from her coma."

"Really?" Ahsoka sounded only mildly shocked. "I'm glad to hear that. I'm sorry to interrupt your reunion, but we've had reports of several Sith sightings near the hospital. We think they may force their way into the building and kill everyone there. You have to lock down the hospital and take care of the Sith. I'm afraid we can't spare anyone else to help you, though."

"That's okay," Leia responded. "Han and I are more than enough." She flashed her husband a wry grin, remembering some of the times they had beat overwhelming odds on their own – and some of the celebrations that had occurred afterward.

"I know you are. Ahsoka out." With that, the connection was broken.

Han gently prodded Allana off of his lap so that he could stand up. "Stay here, sweetheart," he said. "Take care of Aunt Jaina. We'll be back in a little bit."

The girl stared at her grandparents in part fear, part sadness. She did not want them to leave her, but she understood that they had to. Putting on a brave face, she nodded her head and replied, "I will."

Quick hugs were exchanged between the four Solos before Han and Leia left the hospital room and dashed down the hallway. Jaina reached out a reassuring hand to her niece, and Allana took it instantly. They would be brave together.

Despite the dire situation, Ahsoka allowed herself a faint smile as she imagined Han and Leia rushing into battle side-by-side, mowing down hordes of Sith together. Next to her, Kenth Hamner must have agreed, for he muttered, "Force help the Sith who get in their way."

Ahsoka nodded at him. She was confident that the Solos would keep the hospital safe. Still… "I wish we had more Jedi we could send to help."

"We can all agree on that point," said Kenth. "Our divide-and-conquer strategy has stretched us far too thin." He shook his head ruefully. "I'm sure that was part of the Sith's plan. They wanted to overwhelm us, to make us look ineffective."

"Then we'll just have to prove them wrong," Ahsoka stated, hoping her voice inspired strength in the others gathered in the ops center.

A moment later, her comlink chimed. When she answered it, she was surprised by the voice at the other end of the line. "This is Valin Horn," he said. "I'm afraid we have a problem."

Concern rose within Ahsoka. Valin was the Jedi she had assigned to guard Ben Skywalker. If he had a problem, it had to be bad. She excused herself from the holotable and retreated to a corner where she would not be overheard. "What's happened?"

"I'm so sorry, Master, but Ben escaped."

She winced and bowed her head. She was afraid that Ben would do something like this. "How long ago?" she asked.

"About three or four minutes ago," Valin answered. "He tried to convince me to let him go help with the crisis, but I told him that you had ordered me not to. He said that someone he loves is at Obsidian Towers, and he wanted to make sure she was all right. I still refused, and he attacked me. We fought, and he knocked me unconscious. When I woke up, he was gone."

Ahsoka frowned as she processed this information. "He said someone he loves is at Obsidian Towers?"

"Yes, Master."

She immediately wondered whom Ben had been referring to. No one in his family was at the hotel; of that she was certain. Which meant that it had to be someone else. Vestara Khai instantly came to mind, but Ahsoka quickly dismissed the possibility. In spite of what had happened that morning, she was sure Ben did not love the Sith girl. Besides, Vestara was still locked away in the Jedi Temple's security wing.

There was one other candidate whom Ahsoka knew of. Nysilla Zabeth, the girl who had become close with Ben when they were both imprisoned on Dromund Kaas. Just a week ago, it had appeared as though they were about to rekindle their relationship. But those hopes had come crashing down when Ahsoka had seen Ben with Vestara the next day. She knew that Ben had had deep feelings for Nysilla, and she figured he probably still did. If she really was in danger, he would rush to her rescue.

Ahsoka could not help but admire Ben's nobility. At the same time, she cursed his recklessness. He still had so much unresolved, bottled-up anger from his experience in the slave camp. And she was certain that Vestara had somehow made things worse. If Ben went to Obsidian Towers, if he saw the scale of the death and destruction caused by the Sith, it could trigger those traumatic memories and negative emotions, which could tip him over to the dark side of the Force. Everything that Ahsoka feared would come to pass.

"Should I try to find him and bring him back?" Valin asked, interrupting Ahsoka's thoughts.

She considered telling him yes. She considered alerting the temple that Ben had escaped and needed to be captured. But that would mean revealing his treason to the entire Jedi Order, which she still was not yet willing to do. In any case, Ben would have likely commandeered a speeder by then, and it would be too late to bring him back.

Beyond that, Ahsoka believed in her heart that Ben would help the people at Obsidian Towers. Despite the darkness within him, she knew that he was passionate and caring, and he would not condemn the deaths of innocent people. Just like his grandfather, she told herself. Of course, Anakin Skywalker eventually went on to cause the deaths of innocent people. That thought alone was enough to dissuade her from letting Ben go.

But she ignored it and instead went with her gut. "No," she told Valin. "Just let him go. We'll bring him back in after this is all over. In the meantime, report to the hangar. You might as well help us deal with the Sith."

"Thank you, Master Tano. And, again, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Valin. You did everything you could." Silently, she added, We just have to hope this doesn't backfire on us. She was playing a dangerous game, potentially gambling the fate of the galaxy on whether or not Ben Skywalker turned to the dark side.

One more thought crossed her mind. What am I going to tell Luke?

She sat on a long metal slab set against the back wall, staring down at the bare floor. Her back was hunched, her elbows rested on her thighs just behind her knees, and her hands were bound by Force-dampening cuffs. The tiny, empty room was dull gray, but the energy barrier filling the doorway cast a soft blue light on both the metal surfaces and the room's single occupant, Vestara Khai.

No news reached her in her cell, and none of the Jedi guards spoke to her. She did not know exactly what was happening outside the walls of the Jedi Temple, but she knew how serious it was. She could sense death, destruction, agony, and sorrow on a scale that was orders of magnitude greater than anything she had ever sensed before. The Sith were attacking Coruscant, just as they had intended. They were proving that the Jedi were weak and helpless, unable to protect the innocent lives they treasured so dearly. After this day, the Sith would take their rightful place as the undisputed masters of the galaxy.

Vestara should have been happy. After all, she was a Sith herself, sent on a secret mission to assassinate the son of their sworn nemesis, Luke Skywalker. She had been born on an unknown planet as part of the Lost Tribe of the Sith, raised to hate the Jedi with every fiber of her being and yearn for the day when she could fulfill her ancestors' purpose. Thanks to Darth Hatus and his New Sith Order, that day had finally arrived.

So, why was she not happy?

With nothing else to do in her prison cell, Vestara pondered her quandary. A week ago, she would have been celebrating this victory. But so much had changed since then. She had met Ben Skywalker, posing as an innocent tourist, and gained his trust, waiting for the opportune moment to strike him down. That is when everything went sideways. The young Jedi had turned out to be more complex than she had anticipated, harboring anger and resentment at not only the Sith, but at his own order as well. Because of this, she had believed that she could turn him to the dark side and use him against the Jedi. Such a feat would have elevated her status among the Sith, opening the door to a position of authority. It could have even led to her ruling over the entire Sith Order.

But then Ben had told Vestara about terrible things done by the New Sith on Dromund Kaas, things that had shaken her belief in the order to which she had devoted her life. She had begun to experience a crisis of faith that had come to a head that morning, when she and Ben had had sex within the very walls that now kept her confined. It was then that she had realized that she loved Ben and could no longer stand to lie to him. If Ben had not accidentally discovered her lightsaber, Vestara would have confessed everything to him.

She was ashamed of herself for multiple reasons. At the last minute, she had warned the Jedi about the impending attack. Even though it had been too late to prevent it, she had still betrayed the Sith by trying to ruin their plans. Not only that, but she had also betrayed them further by allowing herself to fall in love with a Jedi. She had been weak and emotional, and it had led to her being captured by the enemy. She no longer deserved to call herself a Sith.

Vestara Khai was nothing but a failure and a traitor.

Vestara Khai.

She shot upright in response to hearing her name. Except there was no one in the cell, and no one was visible outside the cell, either. It took her a moment to recognize the disembodied voice. She remembered hearing it for the first time when a mysterious vessel had arrived on her home planet of Kesh. Ship? She projected the name with her mind, disbelief and uncertainty mingled with it.

She heard the voice again – not aloud, but within her mind. Yes.

Vestara almost laughed incredulously. The last thing she had expected in that moment was to be contacted by the ancient Sith meditation sphere that had discovered the Lost Tribe and brought Darth Hatus to them. She had almost forgotten that they shared a unique bond. When Ship had first arrived on Kesh, Vestara had been the first person he had spoken to, judging her to have greater potential than the rest of her people. Was that bond the reason he was reaching out to her now? She asked, Are you here?

Yes. I am above Coruscant. Lord Hatus sent me to retrieve you.

Concern slowly bloomed within Vestara. As far as she knew, Darth Hatus knew nothing about her mission. She was under the impression that one of his apprentices, Darth Volatis, had sent Vestara to kill Ben not for the benefit of the Sith, but to exact revenge for defeating her on Dromund Kaas. Perhaps she had been wrong, and Hatus had been in on it the entire time.

Of course, the timing was suspicious. If Hatus had sent for her now, that would indicate that he knew she had been captured. The only reason he would want Vestara retrieved would be to punish her for her failure. As much as she did not want to remain in Jedi custody, she wondered if it would be better than facing the wrath of Hatus.

Ship must have heard her thoughts, for he said, You do not need to fear, Vestara. Lord Hatus does not desire to punish you. He recognizes that you may yet be useful to him.

That was even more unsettling. Vestara could not imagine Hatus showing mercy to her after all of her failures. Why would he want her to continue to serve him? Unless he was interested in… something else. The idea of what Hatus might want from her filled her with dread.

If Ship sensed her fear, he gave no indication. I will be within range of the Jedi Temple in a few minutes. I can only mask my presence from the Jedi for a limited time, so you will have to move quickly. When I tell you to, you must break out of your cell and make your way to the nearest outer wall.

Break out? repeated Vestara. How? They've placed Force-dampening binders on me.

If you are as strong with the dark side as I believe, they will not be able to stop you. Ship's Force aura withdrew from her mind then, leaving her well and truly alone.

Vestara's mind whirled, trying to comprehend what was happening – and debating whether or not she even wanted it to happen.

What do you think Darth Hatus has planned for Vestara? Is it good or bad? I'll tell you this much; I'm very excited about her role in the story going forward!

Thank you for reading this chapter! If you have any comments or questions, please leave them in your reviews or private messages.