The only Galactic Alliance capital ship that Fleet Admiral Nek Bwua'tu had been willing to give to the Jedi Order for their foray into the Unknown Regions was the Nebulon-B frigate Hoth's Counter, which was captained by a male Rodian named Gushko. Stationed within the Counter were the StealthX fighters that were piloted by Jedi Masters Kyp Durron and Kyle Katarn, as well as the Knights Lowbacca, Valin and Jysella Horn, Seff Hellin, and Natua Wan. But because Nebulon-B frigates could take on twenty-four starfighters, the Counter was also harboring seventeen other fighters, including an X-wing squadron, three Y-wings, and two A-wings, all of which would be flown for this mission by non-Force-sensitive GA pilots.

As for Luke, he had agreed to pilot the Jade Shadow alongside the Counter to the rendezvous with Admiral Hesklon's Thrawn's Vindication, which was located in an empty system well outside GA territory. From there, the small task force departed for the Unknown Regions for the coordinates of the jungle world in which Alema Rar and her closest Gorog Killiks and Joiners were last known to reside.

When they made it there, they found that system to be unoccupied beyond the native inhabitants on the planet below.

After several minutes of making sure that there was no remaining Gorog presence in the system, Luke hailed the Thrawn's Vindication. He was surprised that Hesklon answered the hail himself instead of having one of his comm officers do it; no doubt because he was probably also surprised by the lack of Dark Nest elements here.

"Master Skywalker," Hesklon's voice came over the comm, "I don't understand what's going on here. We had received confirmation that Alema Rar was here, and we had even engaged with Gorog forces here weeks ago. You've seen the recordings, after all, and you know the footage wasn't doctored."

"I believe you, Admiral," Luke replied sincerely. "Which makes this situation even more worrisome. Tell me, do you know if the Dark Nest made anymore invasions into Chiss territory since we last spoke?"

"You mean after the triple attack on the Ufesha, Kelska, and Gerdrush systems?" Hesklon asked.

"Yes."

"Not to my knowledge, Master Skywalker. And the last time I spoke with anyone in EH High Command was an hour ago. So unless the Dark Nest made another invasion since then..."

"Then Alema and her closest Gorog had abandoned this system because it served no further use to them," Luke said, "and now they're occupying one of those three other systems."

"Give me a few minutes, Master Skywalker. I need to make sure that another invasion hasn't occurred in the past hour."

Less than ten minutes later, Hesklon's voice returned. "There are no further reports of any other Gorog invasions since the triple attack, Master Skywalker."

"Very well. But how do we find out which system Alema is occupying? Even sending a remote scoutship wouldn't be able to tell us that."

"You, your Jedi, and my advisor could just enter each system. And if you can't find Rar's presence through the Force, then that means she's not there and we look into one of the other systems."

Luke mulled that thought over for a moment before he said, "I'm afraid it won't be that simple, Admiral. Because Alema is now Gorog's queen, it means that she'll be aware of what the other Dark Nest members know even from lightyears away. So if my Jedi and I, as well as this advisor of yours, enter one of these three systems in which she herself isn't physically there and we Force-scan for her, it's very possible that she can pick up our intentions through the hive-mind that we'll be scanning. And when that happens, she can just move out of the system that she is in, and then we'll be back to square one in looking for her."

"And we can't count on being lucky or the Force for this, now can we?"

"No, we can't," Luke agreed evenly.

"Well, then, since you have three Jedi Masters, including yourself, in this Jedi squad, Master Skywalker, and five Knights plus my Force-sensitive advisor, do you think it would be advisable to divide your squad into three?"

"One led by each Master with two Knights? With one of those groups having your advisor shore it up?"

"My thoughts exactly, Master Skywalker."

"You wouldn't mind then, Admiral Hesklon, if I were to meet your Force-sensitive advisor?"

"Well... that might be a problem, Master Skywalker."

"And why would that be a problem, Admiral?"

"Well, you see, my advisor, Miss Saharis Dhreat, has made it very clear to me that she has no interest in meeting you or any of your Jedi."

"Can you explain the reason for Miss Dhreat's reluctance, Admiral?"

"All she told me is that she's no fan of the Jedi and she wouldn't want to cross paths with you or any member of your Order. In fact, she had told me not to even mention her to you, and that she would be most comfortable in raiding this system as just another pilot against the Dark Nest whom you and your Jedi didn't need to know about."

"I see," Luke said with skepticism. "Well, given the circumstances, I think it'd be wise for Miss Dhreat to put aside whatever biases she has against me and my Jedi if we're to neutralize the Dark Nest, especially if Masters Durron and Katarn agree to this specific arrangement."

"I'm in agreement, Master Skywalker. Which is why I invite you to board the Thrawn's Vindication so that you may meet Miss Dhreat."

"I take it you want my visit to be a surprise to her, Admiral?"

"I would, yes. Now, normally, I would inform her ahead of time, but there's something about her reluctance in seeing you and your Jedi that leaves me with a great deal of suspicion. Between you and me, Master Skywalker, I think there's more to her reticence than a simple dislike or even hatred of you and your Order."

"In other words, Admiral Hesklon, you want me to vet your advisor to see what she's hiding from you?"

"If you would be so kind," Hesklon replied congenially. "I'll say that you'll be coming aboard so that you and I can hash out the finer details about what to do from here... which we may end up doing anyway, now that I think about it. But, really, you'll vet her as you say."

Luke was silent again for a moment as he contemplated the admiral's offer. "Consider it done, Admiral. I'll be aboard your ship in a few minutes; and I'll make sure to keep my Force-presence cloaked until I meet her."

Hesklon then told Luke which quarters Dhreat was staying in before the Jedi Master signed off and guided the Shadow toward the nearest hangar bay of the Thrawn's Vindication.

. . .

Although the jungle world turned out to have been abandoned by Gorog, the Thrawn's Vindication remained in the system for the time being so that Hesklon could talk to Luke Skywalker about what to do next. So with that out of the way, Tahiri disembarked from her modified X-wing and returned to her quarters before the Jade Shadow had a chance to dock with either of the Star Destroyer's hangar bays.

But a few minutes after she returned to her quarters, the door chime rang. From her place on the sofa in the living area, Tahiri reached out through the Force to gauge who was asking for her only to stiffen when she found that the presence on the other side of the door was deliberately cloaking itself from her.

That wasn't a good sign, she thought.

Suddenly, the door was blown inward off its hinges and Tahiri shot to her feet when she saw who was at the threshold.

Luke Skywalker.

With a tilt of his head as he regarded the stunned visage of the woman before him, Luke said, "Nice dye job, Tahiri."

Quickly, Tahiri unhooked her lightsaber from her belt, only to have it suddenly fly from her grasp and into the palm of Luke's artificial hand. The Jedi Master then activated the red-bladed weapon and looked it at it for a few seconds before he promptly deactivated it and sent a current of Electric Judgment along the pommel. The Sith lightsaber crumbled to pieces at his feet as Luke returned his full judgmental attention upon Tahiri.

"So, Tahiri," he said, "are we going to sit down and talk like rational adults or am I going to have to pin you to the bulkhead with the Force? Because you and I both know that there's no way you're gonna win this."

Tahiri stood frozen in place, unable to respond simply from the fear that she radiated throughout both her physical expression and in her Force-presence, before Luke asked, "Well?"

Then Tahiri's shoulders slumped in defeat; she turned and took two steps back to the sofa before she plopped herself down upon it.

"Come on in, Master Skywalker," she said as she averted her gaze from him in shame.

Wordlessly, Luke walked over and seated himself on Tahiri's right side.

"Tahiri, look at me."

"Master Skywalker, please, don't make this anymore..."

"No, no, look at me."

Tahiri sighed before she complied reluctantly.

"Now before you say anything," Luke said, "I want you to hold absolutely still." When Tahiri complied again and became like a statue, he said, "Alright then."

He placed both hands at either side of her head and initiated a surge of power that made the both of them grit their teeth in pain and concentration. This lasted for a solid thirty seconds before they both recoiled from each other and panted in exertion.

"What was that?" Tahiri asked.

"Mnemotherapy. It's a technique, or at least a version of it, that I learned from the Theran Listeners of Nam Chorios after I returned from Chiss space, not long after the war with them broke out. Normally, it's used to extract memories, namely painful ones, to help ease, if not altogether remove, the suffering of the patient. But what I just did was remove a certain mental block in your head that would have killed you."

"Wait, Master Skywalker, you went to learn a new Force-power during this war?"

Luke nodded. "It was because of something that happened during my last visit to Csilla. I was interrogating a Sith infiltrator, and he was right on the verge of telling me where they were when he ended up dying on me. At the time, I didn't know why, but after a while, I came to the deduction that it was because that his Sith Masters must have done something to his head to prevent him from revealing their location. After I escaped and returned to GA space, Jacen told me about the Theran Listeners and that I could benefit from some time learning from them just in case I came across another Sith agent like the one on Csilla. It took me about a month to learn it, but then, with my advanced understanding of the Force overall, I was able to make it through a crash-course."

"So, wait, you're telling me that if I'd told you where the Sith were, I would have died?" Tahiri asked in horror.

Luke nodded again. "You would have suffered fatal hemorrhaging based on what I've seen. Of course, now that I just freed you from it, you're able to tell me where the Sith are without dying on me. So, Tahiri, since you've just made it clear that you're not all that loyal to your Sith Masters, please tell me where they are."

She opened her mouth to answer, only to stop once she realized that she didn't have the information that he asked for. "I... I don't know."

After a moment of Force-scanning for her honesty, Luke sighed. "I was afraid this might happen. Normally, mnemotherapy allows the practitioner to take the patient's memory upon himself. But since I used an alternative version of it that just removed the mental block that would have killed you, I was unable to retrieve the information that would have told me where the Sith were. Which means that whoever trained you-"

"Gosuj," Tahiri interrupted.

"Pardon me?" Luke asked.

"His name is Gosuj. Male Devaronian. He made me kill and eat children just to survive. He won't let me forget about that or him. And I don't intend to," Tahiri finished darkly.

Luke looked at her worriedly. "Tahiri... I'm so sorry," he said as he placed his natural hand on one of her shoulders.

"Please, Master Skywalker, don't," she said as she lightly brushed his hand away. "I don't need your pity." Though her words were defiant, her tone was weak; it was evident that Tahiri felt as tired as she was defeated. "Just finish what you were going to say, before I cut you off."

Luke's lips thinned in consideration. He thought about trying to console Tahiri after what she just told him, but decided that now wasn't a good time. Instead, he said, "Right. Well, this Gosuj was smart; he made sure that should that mental block be compromised, so would the information that it was protecting be erased along with it."

Tahiri was silent for a moment as she allowed all of this to sink in before she finally asked, "So... what now, Master Skywalker?"

"Well, for now, we're going to work together to defeat Alema and Gorog," Luke said. "After that, when we return to Galactic Alliance space, Tahiri, you and I are going to have a nice long chat over your future in this Order."

This time, she looked directly at him. "I have no future in the Jedi Order, Master Skywalker."

"If you truly believe that, Tahiri, you wouldn't have given up right there so easily."

"It's not that," she countered softly. "It's just that I knew I couldn't beat you. You're too strong in the Force. Only..."

"Only what, Tahiri?"

She shook her head. "Must've been something that was erased when you got rid of that mental block. Well, it doesn't matter now. Not to you, anyway."

"It matters to me, Tahiri," Luke said sternly. "It also matters to Mara, and it matters to the Solos. It matters to everyone you left behind when you joined Gorog."

"If you want me back in the Order, Master Skywalker, you're gonna have to take me in." This time, there was fire in Tahiri's tone. "Because there's nothing left for me there."

Luke tilted his head back as he regarded Tahiri coldly. "Then what if I let you walk?"

"What?" she asked incredulously.

"What if I allowed you to leave after Alema and Gorog have been defeated? What then? You don't know where your Sith Masters are now. What will you do?"

Tahiri thought about just saying, "None of your business," or something to that effect. But when she thought about it and figured that Luke wouldn't take that as a genuine answer, she actually said, "I don't know. I just don't know."

Luke nodded. "I'll leave you alone for now. But know this: you, me, and Lowbacca are all going to be working together to find Alema and end this. Ideally, I don't want to kill her, but if that is how this has to go, then so be it. But you'll be on that mission since you're still working for Admiral Hesklon, is that clear?"

"It is," she answered simply.

"Good," he said; his Force-scan of her bolstered his confidence in her honesty. "So now onto my actual meeting with the admiral. I imagine I probably will have to end up paying for that door, too."

Tahiri's mood didn't seem at all lightened by the nature of that last sentence. Instead, she asked, "Will that be all, Master Skywalker?"

"Yes, it will, Tahiri. And don't worry; I won't let Hesklon know about your true identity. At least not now."

"Wait, why not?"

"Something tells me that he wouldn't take kindly to a Sith who's been lying to him about her identity. It might compromise your ability to help us defeat the Dark Nest. So I'll let you continue your little charade with him for simplicity's sake."

"Thank you, Master Skywalker," she replied stiffly.

He nodded again, then he stood up from the couch and left without another word.