Thanks for the wonderful reviews of my last chapter, they were great. Here's a slightly shorter chapter to be a little filler before the Slayer arrives on Mon Calamari. Hope you enjoy it and keep the reviews coming. Thank you and enjoy.

Three days later, hyperspace

Only Jag was with Jaina in the Trickster's main cockpit, and she was glad of that fact. If anyone else had seen the tantrum she'd just finished she might have died of embarrassment.

"This has got to be the most laser-brained thing I've ever done," she continued, "What could have possessed me to agree to that murderous Slayer's deal?"

"It was the only way to get out of there alive," Jag said softly.

It was if Jaina hadn't heard him. "This killer thinks he's going to be the one to dictate to the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance how things are going to go. Well, I'll tell you Jag, he may have the Vong dancing to his tune, but we're tougher than that. He's not going to play us the way he does them."

Jag wisely kept silent that the Slayer was already playing them, and obviously had since before they even learned of him. But with the love of his life in a seething fury, now was definitely not the time to mention that.

"I'll talk to Alliance command, that's for sure," she went on, hardly missing a beat, "and I'll tell them that the Slayer is probably the single most-dangerous enemy we have. We need to get what we can out of him and then blast him out of existence. He killed Jacen. He killed half of who I was. I want him dead, Jag. I want to yank back that hood of his and stare into his eyes as I impale him on my lightsaber. I want to…"

"Stop," ordered Jag softly, but firmly, "Stop talking like that right now. The Slayer is a murderer, but you aren't. If you kill him for no other reason than revenge, then you've become nothing better than him."

Jaina's anger seemed to instantly vanish and she seemed to shrink in on herself, revealing that all that was left was grief. Her eyes started to well up with tears, and in that moment Jag swept in and held her tightly.

"Jacen. Anakin," she got out through her tears, "They're dead, Jag. Nothing can ever bring them back. And now I have to deal with someone who uses my memory of them to manipulate me. How can I deal with Jacen's murderer, Jag? Part of me was Jacen, just as part of him was me. When he died, that part of me died as well. It feels cold and empty, a void I can never fill. Not even my love for you can fill that up. When I'm angry, I can ignore it, but now… How can I go on, Jag? How can I find the strength to keep fighting, when I'm so scared to lose the last thing that I give a damn about in this galaxy?"

"You have more than enough strength for all of us, Goddess," Jag said with a smile, running a hand through her hair, "Life is struggle, life is change. Let me tell you a little story. About two years ago, I ran into a strange preacher, couldn't even tell you what species he was. He told me that all of existence is a dream, and when we die we wake to a new life. There is nothing in the galaxy to fear or hate, for every person dreaming can change it. I may not buy his philosophy, but I do agree that every person can change the galaxy. You and your family is living proof of that."

Jaina lifted her glistening brown eyes to meet Jag's emerald ones. "No, not my family," she said softly, "Our family."

Jag brought his lips down to hers, and it was a long time before he pulled away again.

In the main hold, the topic of conversation was the same, though more animated.

"There wasn't a thing in the Force," said Alema, restating that fact that everyone had to have repeated twenty times, "Just a blank spot, and then those waves of power. When he told us to put away our weapons, my finger was ready to shut down my saber. It took every bit of willpower I had not to move my finger that centimeter to hit the button."

"Even when he blasted Lowie with that Force lightning, there was nothing," agreed Tahiri, "We should have felt him drawing on the Force, or at least sensed it in the lightning, but there was nothing! He might have been ten parsecs away for all we knew."

Lowie howled something and Zekk handled the translation. "He asked if we noticed the power of that Force lightning and compared it to how Master Skywalker described his meeting with Emperor Palpatine. This was many times more powerful."

"Great," commented Kyp snidely, "so we're dealing with a maniacal killer who is probably a match in the Force for Luke, but since we can't sense him in the Force, who knows what he could be up to at any given point?"

Zekk shook his head, his dark eyes staring at something very far from where they were. "There was something else. I felt a sense of, well, maybe kinship isn't the best way to describe it. But I got the feeling that even though we were enemies, that I could still trust what the Slayer was saying. That he regretted the fact we were on opposite sides."

"That makes no sense," sneered Tahiri, an expression that marred her beautiful features, "why would the Slayer care one bit that we were enemies. He serves the Yuuzhan Vong, we serve the Jedi, and that makes us about as hated enemies as there are."

"Are we enemies?" asked a voice, and everyone turned to see Ganner propped up easily against the wall, "I'll ask again, are we really enemies? If the Slayer wants to end this war, and we want to end this war, doesn't that make our goals one and the same? We have to make a choice. Treat the Slayer as we've heard he is, or treat him as an ally in ending this war. I think we need to make our choice and live with the consequences."

"Colonel Solo, you are cleared to land in docking bay 1511. We've already sent word to your family, they'll meet you when you land."

"Thank you, Control, Trickster out."

Jaina brought them down smoothly into the atmosphere, the great blue oceans of Mon Calamari spreading out below them like a blue carpet as they approached Coral City, built on dozens of small islands. Waterways crisscrossed the city, allowing Mon Cal and Quarren to swim or take water skiffs from one part of the city to another, while humans and others could take speeders or walk around the beautifully lined streets.

The largest island off to one side of the city was the spaceyard. Jaina brought the ship down for a smooth landing, and could already see everyone waiting.

They got out quickly, and everyone beamed to see that there were no casualties. Han and Leia, Luke and Mara, Wedge and Iella, Corran and Mirax, Threepio and Artoo were all there waiting. Leia ran up first and hugged her daughter.

"I'm so glad to see that you're all right," she said quietly, "I felt your fear and anger."

Jaina nodded. "I'm okay, Mom. I promise."

She then went up to Wedge and Iella after nodding to Luke and Mara and giving her father a smile.

"I thought you might want to get the short version immediately, General," she said.

Wedge smiled as he lightly punched her in the shoulder. "Good to see you safe, kid. But yeah."

Jaina smiled. Wedge was now family, and it was about time. He'd always been like an uncle, now he really was. "The Slayer is real, and he's more powerful than we thought. He claims to be an incarnation of their warrior god, and he's got worshippers coming out his ears. We weren't able to kill him. He was expecting us, and he led us by the nose from the moment we arrived. He had us at his mercy, could have had us killed in the blink of an eye. He wants to come to Mon Calamari in two weeks with a few of his bodyguards."

Wedge's eyes nearly bugged out of his head, as did Han's.

"How does the all-powerful Slayer intend to do that?" came the former smuggler's question.

"He expects the Alliance to let him land, Dad," she said with a grimace, then handed Wedge the datatape, "That holds information on an imminent attack of Esphandia, the relay station into the Unknown Regions, particularly Chiss space. The Slayer said he might be willing to reveal more if he comes. That was the deal we made. He allowed us to live, and bring this offer to you."

Leia gasped as her daughter spoke the last sentence. Eight Jedi had gone to Coruscant, and yet this Slayer had let them live? What was this creature who could have so many experienced Jedi at his mercy? What damage could he cause in the middle of the Galactic Alliance?

Wedge shook his head. "Well it's nice that he wants to share this information, but that's not going to get him a landing pad on Mon Calamari."

"He said he might be willing to share more once he arrives," replied Jaina, looking sick at having had to say that.

Wedge frowned. Kre'fey and Sovv weren't going to like this one bit, nor would Cal Omas, and Pwoe might just start thinking to destroy the planet to avoid this.

"I'll bring it to Alliance Command's attention," he said sourly, "Esphandia's our only link to the Chiss, and if we let that go then Pellaeon and the Imperial Remnant might pull out of the Alliance. We can't risk that. I'll do what I can, but I make no promises."

Jaina nodded, then turned to look at her parents and Uncle Luke. She took a deep breath. This was going to be even harder than she thought.

"Mom, Dad, Uncle Luke," she began, then started choking on her words, "the Slayer killed Jacen."

Leia felt her heart stop, and Han's arm tightened around her. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be.

"How do you know?" she asked her daughter.

Jaina couldn't speak, so Jag handled it. "Many of the people we spoke to on Coruscant told us that every story about Jacen had him dying at the hands of the Slayer, although no one knew if it was in battle, or if Jacen was sacrificed. When we were facing the Slayer, he told us point blank that he was dead."

"He… he said that there was more to Jacen's death than that," explained Jaina, having found her voice again, "He told us that he would tell us everything we wanted to know about Jacen when he arrived on Mon Cal. I want him dead, but I want to know what happened to Jacen first."

Luke nodded, understanding completely. It was the most important question to most people; why. Why did things happen the way they did? Why did Jacen have to die? Or Anakin? Or Chewbacca? Or any of the countless millions or even billions who Luke never knew or met? He turned to Wedge.

"Wedge, Iella, surely the two of you can work something out with Sovv and Omas," he said hopefully, "We have to know the truth."

Wedge nodded to his oldest friend. "He'll be able to land, Luke. I promise that to all of you now. We'll find out what happened to Jacen. Then we can blast this Slayer to the Corellian hells."

With that, Wedge and Iella took their leave to report to Alliance Command. Luke and Mara began leading the rest of the Jedi team to their apartment, where they could get an in-depth evaluation of the mission and see what they found out that Intelligence didn't already know.

Leia let Han go ahead with Jaina, and was unaware of anything else until someone spoke from next to her.

"Don't believe everything you're told," said Ganner. Leia was shocked, he had a much more thoughtful face and a more relaxed demeanor than before this mission. What had happened to him?

"I know it seems as though it's hopeless for Jacen, Ambassador," he continued, "but I learned long ago not to underestimate Jacen Solo. I still don't believe he's dead. I'm sure that he'll come back to us when we least expect it."

"But Jaina said the Slayer…"

"The Slayer could have lied for any number of reasons," he interrupted, "From what we heard, Jacen became a legendary hero to the slaves and refugees there. If the Slayer claimed he was dead, who would everyone be able to rally behind? I'm not about to count your son out of this just yet. I still say Jacen's out there somewhere."

Leia looked at this Jedi who got so little respect from his peers, and thought that he was either amazingly noble for his loyalty to Jacen, or as delusional as she was that Jacen could still be alive. Leia wished she knew which was right.