Danni walked through the forest as the evening twilight enveloped the landscape like a rich fluffy blanket. She still marveled at the golden fruity smell that seemed to dance in the air like an intoxicating dream, adding the fairy tale illusion to Zonama. To Danni, no other world in the galaxy was as perfect as Zonama, thanks to the guiding hand of Sekot. Even the influx of Yuuzhan Vong, especially now that, like the others, they too have embraced the True Way, had not overwhelmed the delicate balance that Sekot has established. It hadn't been easy, after all the hyperspace jumps and dark side forces like Master Kwaad threaten to delay the work of Sekot, but now the whole world once again sings the praises of Sekot with one voice.

Like the entire galaxy will one day, Danni thought with conviction. Master Kwaad, the Rogue Yuuzhan Vong forces (the few remaining that were not busy committing suicide as fast as they can), and the others who still believed in the Lie, still fought against the gifts that Sekot wishes to share with all; they were temporally obstructions on the road of paradise. No one could stop Sekot from eradicating the evil, the suffering, the pain from the galaxy. Oh Luke, Corran and others like them may try, but Sekot is the future. A future that Danni embraces whole heartily.

When Tahiri joins us, allows Sekot to bridge the gap between Yuuzhan Vong and the others, Danni thought with a sigh. Sekot could control, could allow the Yuuzhan Vong to hear Sekot's voice but at great expense. When the Yuuzhan Vong heard Sekot, Danni had to monitor everything else on Zonama and the reversed was true. With the help of the Slave Seed, Danni could monitor the Yuuzhan Vong while Sekot tended to other concerns. However, neither could do both at the same time, the gap between Yuuzhan Vong and the rest of the galaxy was too great. Only Tahiri, the hybrid of Human and Yuuzhan Vong could do both, could give Sekot the control that no one else could give the galaxy.

If we could just get her back here, Danni thought bitterly as she watched two squirrel like creatures chase each other through the leafy branches above her. What should have been the easiest part of the plan continued to prove to be the most difficult to achieve. It was as if the galaxy itself was fighting to keep her away. No matter what Danni or Sekot tried, something else would pop in and distract Tahiri. Even using Rar and others to push Tahiri towards her destiny hadn't work out to their advantage as they had hoped. They had hoped that either Rar or the Emperor would capture Tahiri so that they could 'stage' a rescue and start teaching Tahiri the True Way from there, but the young Jedi was proving to be too skilled to be captured.

At least that Bora is dead at last, Danni though with great satisfaction. It had been a great surprise and a welcomed one when they had learned that Ratnena Bora was visiting her parents on Kidriff 5. Sekot didn't even have to nudge anyone to kill her, they just let the natural evil found in the galaxy take care of their problem for them. Ratnena had been a strange influence on Tahiri since they met on Borleais during their training, she constantly deflect Tahiri from her destiny by her presence. However, thanks to her own brash actions and the natural violence found far too often in the galaxy, she is no longer a concern.

"Hello Jaina," Danni said as she reached the clearing and found Jaina pacing back and forth restlessly.

"Anakin," Jaina said breathlessly, the awe and sorrow was evident in her voice as she slowly approached Danni.

Danni allowed a full smile cross her lips as she studied her friend. Thanks to the help of Sekot, Danni was able to appear as Anakin Solo, Jaina's fallen brother. Before meeting Sekot, Danni would have balked at using such tactics on a friend but she has since learned that to help the galaxy save it's self certain action were required, no matter what they were.

"How … how did you get here …" Jaina said, her voice full of confusion.

"It is the Force my sister," Danni answered easily, using the Force gently to make sure Jaina didn't do anything like try to hug her. After all Anakin was dead and Danni wasn't, if Jaina touched her it might destroy the illusion. Normally, Sekot performed this duty, as Sekot had done on Denon. There Sekot pretended to be Jacen Solo to convince Tahiri to return to Sekot but that plan was stopped by that woman. "Here on Zonama, where the True Way is the strongest, all things are possible."

"Of course Anakin," Jaina said with a stronger voice and a smile, "I have learned much about the True Way from Danni and the others."

"I know you have, I have been watching you grow in knowledge," Danni said projecting happiness, "but you seem restless."

"I'm just … I … I can't believe how close I allowed the Dark Side to win. If I had allowed the others to destroy Tahiri it could have … the entire galaxy could have suffered."

"But you didn't Jaina; you were able to stop yourself before that happened."

"No, she stopped me and …"

"Jaina, you hesitated, you failed to hit her with the killing shoot. You and you alone made yourself miss."

"If you say so Anakin," Jaina said sounding unsure. Being the Voice of Sekot, Danni has been reinforcing the idea that Jaina's action at Ossus had been the True Way working through her, guiding her action even then. However, Jaina never fully accepted that explanation; it was as if someone else was whispering to her in her sleep. That the truth was that she failed to kill Tahiri do to force outside her control.

"One day you will fully understand Jaina, one day you will see how even the most extreme actions at the time are really just the Force guiding our hands." Danni said, taking a deep breath to launch the next phase of their plan. "Soon you will return to Denon …"

"Leave Sekot? Why," Jaina asked looking horrified.

"The Force requires it Jaina," Danni said with a smile, "soon the forces of evil will try again to bring Tahiri to their side. She will need you there to help her as you help her parents in their hour in need."

"Help her how?"

"Soon she will have to chose, to be with Sekot or not. If she chose to follow her heart you will help her return to here. She needs to be here to help save the galaxy, however if she chooses to follow the Lie, to walk with darkness …" Danni turned away to reinforce the sadness she was projecting. "The vision I had of her will come to pass and the entire galaxy will fall in to chaos and darkness."

"But couldn't Sekot …"

"Sekot is still far too weak to stop her," Danni said wishing that were a complete lie on her part. Sadly, Sekot was still too weak to fight off a concentrated effort against Zonama. That is the one of reason they needed Tahiri, she could control both sides of any war and allow Sekot the freedom to fight back. As things stood now, Sekot would have to either concentrate on using the Yuuzhan Vong Warriors or ignore them and relied on the defenses of the planet. Neither option was desirable since the outcome would not be assured. Only with Tahiri help can they be victorious against any attempts to stop them. "Sekot is sure that Tahiri will reject the Dark Side, the Lie, but I know that Sekot would feel better if you were there by her side again."

"But Tahiri doesn't trust me …"

"She does," Danni said quickly, "when she is in her darkest hour, she will seek you out and forgive. You need to be there to guild." When Jaina was silent, Danni knew she was successful.

"I will do as you ask Anakin," Jaina said finally. Danni could see the pain in her heart at the idea of leaving Zonama and the love of Sekot but she also knew that she would return one day.

"I knew I could trust you to do the right thing my sister," Danni said while projecting the illusion of Anakin Solo slowly fading, "may the Force and Sekot be with you."

As Danni quietly walked away to leave Jaina lost in her own thoughts, she reviewed her actions today. Corran was convinced, with the help of Danni and Sekot, that he had found the qahsa that Nem Yim had left behind when they were here before. He was not only convinced it was important but that he had also been able to hide its existence from Sekot and Danni. Silly notion really, Sekot knew all and what Sekot knew, Danni also knew. They had purposely left it there for him to find and allowed him limited access to its contents. He would take it back with him and allow Tahiri to access it, in hope to understand Sekot better or at least uncover some grand plan of galactic conquest by the Yuuzhan Vong. With the qahsa in her hands, Sekot will finally be able to, once again, contact Tahiri, hopefully this time unaffected by … the something.

Sekot never went into detail about the Other that appeared to Tahiri when Sekot did, only that the Other wished to twist Tahiri away from Sekot. It had frustrated Sekot that the Other always seemed to be present when Sekot attempted contact her, to give the opposing viewpoint to Sekot's love. At least the last time Sekot talked to Tahiri, which Sekot has not been able to do since she gave up Bangor, Tahiri didn't suspect that either Sekot or the Other was real. Instead, Tahiri felt that they were just part of her own mind. No different then what one would think one could hear when making any decision.

Danni often felt that this Other made Sekot nervous, since Sekot was unable to nullified It's influence on Tahiri, but Danni was not worried. With Sekot, Danni and now Jaina's help, Tahiri will learn the True Way and the galaxy will be at peace … forever, whether or not it wanted it. One thing Danni and Sekot had agreed on early was the need for a loving and stern hand to guild the galaxy, that the evil that intelligent creatures inflict on each other needed to be contained.

Sekot has dim but powerful memories that It's parent had left on Sekot was the betray of the Yuuzhan Vong had inflected on It. How Yuuzhan'tar children left to defend Yuuzhan'tar from the evils it had never before experience before the Machine users found It. Sekot also knew that while It's children most stayed loyal to Yuuzhan'tar love and commands, some rebelled against It. They became as evil as the Machine Users, instead of obeying they decided to … think. They somehow developed Free Will and decided that they didn't need or want to be loved by Yuuzhan'tar. Sekot took It's parent's lesson to heart and vowed not to repeat the same mistake. Nevertheless, even as Sekot attempted to hid and only allow small groups that would accept It's love, others kept invading It's peace. Sekot and Danni had concluded that in order to protect Sekot, they would have to save the galaxy from its self, that all should receive Sekot's love. Only when the unnatural rules imposed on the galaxy by human greed and selfishness was replaced by Sekot's love, only then can the galaxy be at peace.

Rules that people like her father imposed on the natural world, that did nothing but cause greater pain and suffering on good people like Jaina and her family … after all is there any pain in the universe greater then losing a brother? Was there any greater love in the cosmos then Sekot …


PAIN! It surrounded Danni, engulfed her, in her. Her entire existence suddenly became as dark as the depths of intergalactic space. Somewhere in that dark came hundreds, thousands, millions, billions of tortured souls screaming out in agony, misery, for forgiveness, salvation … PAIN! Suddenly, something began eating at her, tearing at her, in her … PAIN! She tried to fight back however, her hands passed through nothing as she felt the claws and the teeth as they pressed their attacked. PAIN! She added her own voice to the countless others, screaming out to Sekot for help, to save her … PAIN! She shield her eyes as best as she could as a light brighter then any star exploded in the universe. She had to squint to see anything, not that it help it was just …PAIN!

Danni could see her attackers, they were still as black as night and too horrible to describe as they slashed and tore into her, from within her. She could see her skin, torn, bleeding, chunks missing, parts burned black, others melted as if candle wax …PAIN! All around her others were being tortured by the same creatures, some were down and being dragged towards a hole in the center. An island that is what they were on; an island in the middle of a lake of … fire! PAIN! The creatures knocked her down, she again screamed out as they dragged her across the island. PAIN! PAIN! PAIN!

I hope that your limited definition of pain has been properly redefined.

Danni looked up pleading for help at a creature that wore a cloak that had both light and dark globes that chased each other across the being's body. When it pulled back its hood, it reveled the face of … Tahiri?

No, I am not Tahiri. I am using this form so that pathetic collection of atoms you call a brain can comprehend what I am about to explain to you. I don't have much time to play around, so I brought you here for two reasons. One reason was to show you just how much you don't know, Voice of Sekot, about the true nature of the Universe. The second is to tell you to stop playing god, neither you nor Sekot are gods. Playing with people's lives like you two have has started to annoy me, Danni watched horrified as it gave her a nasty smile; trust me on this, I'm not a pleasant person when annoyed. Therefore, I need you to be the Ears of Sekot and pass on this message. Stop Now! What you two have done on Zonama is bad enough but you try to take over the entire galaxy and you will suffer … in fact Danni of Zonama, you will look back on this experience as the most wonderful in your life if you fail to listen to me.

Danni opened her mouth to asked forgiveness, pleading to understand, to stop the …


… Immediately the pain stopped and the cool ground of Zonama refreshed her.

"Danni, Danni where have you been?"

"Where did you come from?"

Danni heard the voices, surprised and confused, surround her as she reached out to seek Sekot.

My Voice! Where have you been?"

Danni couldn't answer as she tried to bury herself in Sekot's love. The memories were so vivid, so powerful that she just wanted to run away and hid forever.

"Danni, where have you been? You have been missing for a week!" Corran said as he reached her side.

Danni couldn't answer as the word 'week' echoed in her head, later she would tell Sekot but now she just wanted to hid … and never leave Zonama again.


"Hello Luke," Wedge said as Luke left the shuttle and stepped down on the landing pad of the Kidriff 5 main Military and Police base. Wedge watched as Luke gave the surroundings a dubious look. "They sometimes wish they were still part of the Empire, if that is what you are thinking."

"I thought I was the only one around here who could use the Force," Luke said with a cock-eyed grin as he shook Wedge's hand. "Does your wife know that you are no longer retired?"

"Temporarily un-retired," Wedge shot back with his own grin, "nothing has changed since the last time I talked to you." Wedge glanced at the man grabbing Luke's bags and then nodded to the waiting air car, "Peacekeeper and the rest are over at the District Security Office, after we get you settled in I can take you over there."

"No," Luke said with a sad shake of his head, "I better go see the team before I do anything else. I still have to meet with the Planetary Governor this afternoon; Chief of State Omas needs me to smooth over some ruffled feathers, as he called it." Wedge nodded to Squeaky as he held open the doors to the air car for Luke and him to get in, once they were settled Wedge told Squeaky were to head too. "Privately, the Governor is grateful for the work Ratnena had performed here; his opinion is his own people could not have done as much in as little amount of time. Publicly, although, I'm here to listen to his valid complaints about foreign agents running amok on Kidriff 5 and assure them that we had only their best interest at heart."

"Sound like a job for a diplomat not you," Wedge said watching Luke closely.

"Normally yes, but this is not a normal situation really. With Tahiri involved as well as Leia and Han, I figure I would get their reports as long as I was here." Then Luke looked vaguely uncomfortable and squirmed in his seat, "plus Cal thought that Leia and I could do better damage control then a hundred diplomats, project a positive image of the Jedi and I could get some needed training in diplomacy."

"Sounds logical," Wedge said watching him squirm more.

"I agreed with Cal, plus Tahiri herself has done more to show that the New Jedi Order is a positive thing then anything that Leia or I could say. Have you seen some of the reports about Ratnena?"

"Yes I have," Wedge, said with a sick feeling in his guts that he got when he had first he read the Ministry of Health autopsy on Ratnena. "None of the reports leaked thought, even come close as to accurately describing the shape we found her in, the injuries she suffered were far worst."

"I know," Luke said in a small voice. It was hard for anyone to stomach the abuse she had reportedly suffered now and in the past. "Some kind soul in the media played up on her injuries and her past; they had aired a special report on it last night."

"I saw it," Wedge said, "or at least parts of it. Squeaky told me during that show that Face and Tahiri knew something was eating her up but they could never get her to say what it was." Then something clicked in Wedge's head that explained why Luke was so fidgety. "You want to use Ratnena and Tahiri's friendship to prove all Jedi is not your father or Kyp!"

"Several key people had quietly suggested that Cal and I do that, yes. You add in that she chased that Yunder and his gang down without killing anyone and then risking her life to save a small child …" Luke trailed off looking sheepish.

"I can see the value in for the GA and Jedi but …"

"Yes, but will Tahiri go for it." Luke said with a sigh, "I can tell you this much Wedge, I am not in favor of it. Let's honor Ratnena Bora for all that she was all that she had done to protect her family, friends and home world. There is much that we should be grateful for and we can never repay her for what she had accomplished here. But to use them like that, as showpieces. No, no I am not in favor of that at all. To me, that would just cheapen what she died for, what she sacrificed to protect."

"Did you manage to convince Cal of that view?"

"Let's just say we don't quite see eye to eye on this subject." Luke said dryly, "but we agreed to leave it up to her. Leia and I are supposed to suggest the idea and see what she thinks about the whole plan."

"Well, you know Tahiri, how do you think she will react when you ask her?"

"No," Luke said shaking his head, "I know Tahiri Veila, you know Tahiri better then I do right now. How do you think she will react?"

"Well, Luke," Wedge said after a very long pause, Wedge understood why they wanted to use Tahiri's and Ratnena's friendship for propaganda but he never liked using anyone's pain in that manner. "I only saw parts of that show last night. The reason I only saw some of it was that there was a memorial service for Ratnena earlier. It was a small private affaire, really, just her family, Inspector Smith, Han and Leia and a few of the Wraiths that were invited."

"Was it hard for Tahiri?"

"Tahiri wasn't there."

"Uh," Luke said as Wedge turned back to look at him. The look of disbelieve that Luke wore was similar to the one that Wedge had worn a day earlier. "Why would she not go …?"

"She wanted to go Luke but …" Wedge took a deep breath before moving on. "When the Bora's approached us to let us know about the service, her mother forbids Tahiri to attend. When Tahiri tried to talk to her, Mrs. Bora attacked her. She was claming that Tahiri was a fraud and never cared about Ratnena. That she wanted her daughter to be dead and a real Jedi would have saved her. It took Han, Smith, Elassar and I to pull her off Tahiri, and she took it Luke. She just stood there and let herself be attacked."

"Poor Tahiri," Luke said with a sigh.

"Yea," Wedge said with a nod, "so as far as what you want to ask her …"

"Wedge, do me a favor if you could?"

"Sure Luke."

"Just forget about that part of the conversation."