The Thrawn's Vindication dropped out of hyperspace into the Gerdrush system to find that although the Galactic Alliance and Empire of the Hand starfighters that were already there were blowing away Gorog dartships by the dozens, there were still so many of them that it might still be an impossibility for the Dark Nest's enemies to win. Indeed, from the Vindication's bridge, Admiral Hesklon could see the debris of several EH fighters littering the space surrounding the system's namesake planet, and he could even spot one X-wing sitting out of the battle a good distance away.

"Sensors, confirm that immobile X-wing is Jedi Master Katarn's ship," Hesklon ordered.

A moment later, one of his officers reported, "X-wing's designate number is a match for Master Katarn's, Admiral Hesklon."

"Good, then he's doing what he should," Hesklon said. He didn't have to elaborate to anyone on the bridge that, like Skywalker back in the Ufesha system, Kyle Katarn was busy using his Force-powers to try to immobilize Alema Rar in a telepathic battle that no one who was Force-blind could ever truly understand.

"Comm," Hesklon said to another officer, "patch me through to Saharis Dhreat's X-wing."

"Aye, sir," said officer responded. Two seconds later, she said, "Comm established."

"Miss Dhreat," Hesklon said, "you're clear to go."

"Thank you, Admiral," Tahiri Veila's voice responded.

A few moments later, a lone X-wing streaked away from the Vindication and headed towards the centermost nestship amidst the dozen Gorog capital ships that orbited Gerdrush.

"Helm," Hesklon said, "take us into a flanking maneuver to the leftmost of those nestships. Turbolaser operators, make sure your guns are primed and ready! We're gonna start shooting our way down towards the centermost nestship. Comm, tell our TIE squad leaders to launch all fighters as our screen."

After a round of "Aye, sirs," from the officers he ordered, the Vindication began heading toward the leftmost nestship while four squads of TIE fighters, intermixed with several bombers, launched from the Star Destroyer to act as cover against the massive swarm of dartships and armed Joiner vessels.

This time, Veila—or Dhreat, as she still liked to be known aboard the Vindication—was aware of the time limit that she had to abide by. However, instead of it being ten minutes, she had however long it would take for Hesklon's capital to get through to Rar's nestship, which the admiral intended to be only a few seconds longer than ten minutes.

. . .

As Tahiri soared her X-wing toward the nestship aboard which she sensed Alema, her anger, her rage, drove her further on in her ever-present desire for vengeance against the Twi'lek for killing Lowbacca. Little did she think of the deal that she struck with Hesklon that saw to her betrayal of Master Skywalker, which ended with him being chained up in the refresher of her quarters aboard the Thrawn's Vindication.

When she had still been in bacta following the Second Battle of Ufesha, Hesklon had visited her, and had arrived only minutes after she had been awakened.

"How are you feeling?" he had asked her. There was no sense of sympathy or warmth in his tone like there had been before; only cold objectivity, as if he were only asking for an official purpose. Since he was virtually opaque to a passive Force-scan of his intentions, the best Tahiri had to go on at the moment was what she saw before her.

"Like a stuck bantha," she replied evenly. "But I'm feeling better with each passing hour. Thanks for asking."

"Are you really?" His tone was suggestive of something else now.

Her eyes narrowed as she stared back at him. "What do you mean, Admiral?"

"You just lost one of your friends aboard that nestship. You couldn't even bring his body back for a proper funeral. I somehow doubt you're feeling completely better."

"No. No, I'm not." Her tone carried the weight of her fresh grief for Lowie's death.

"Of course you're not," he said, as if stating a simple, neutral fact. "Which is why, when you get out of that tank, you're gonna give it your all against Alema, aren't you?"

Behind her rebreather, Tahiri smirked. "I somehow doubt Master Skywalker will allow me to-"

"To what, embrace the dark side of the Force? Why should he care about you, a simple Force-sensitive mercenary? You're not one of his Jedi. Or... at least not anymore."

Tahiri's eyes widened.

Hesklon's neutral stoic expression was curved by a slight smile as he produced a commlink from his belt and pressed a button on its side. To Tahiri's horror, the recording of her conversation with Master Skywalker in her quarters played out to its full extent.

When the recording was finished and Hesklon replaced the commlink back in the same belt pouch, he said, "Don't worry, Miss Veila. I have no intention of killing you or otherwise disposing you from my command. In fact, I think you might serve me better if you weren't so limited by the, shall we say, moral restrictions that Master Skywalker would put on you. Mister Boric!"

Hesklon stood out of the way to allow for a brown-haired, light-skinned human male in his mid-twenties to step into the medbay; he wore a simple white tunic, tanned trousers, and dark brown boots that seemed to fit in perfectly with the blandly neutral expression on his face.

"Miss Veila, allow me to introduce you to Garis Boric," Hesklon said. "A former Theran Listener from Nam Chorios, which, as you recall, was the very same planet that Master Skywalker mentioned learning mnemotherapy from. After I looked into said technique to see if there were anymore practical applications for its use, I had contacted Supreme Commander Kelssar to see if our anonymous contacts had known anyone from Nam Chorios."

"Anonymous contacts?" Tahiri asked. "You mean to tell me that... I'm not the first Force-sensitive you worked with, Admiral?"

"Oh, no, you are. You're just not the first one that I was aware of to work within the Empire of the Hand."

"So you knew about Lieutenant Foi'liu from the Meklon?"

"Admittedly, he was a surprise to me. I'm not aware of everything that goes on in the EH, but I know enough to trust that the likes of Commander Kelssar do everything they can to keep the best interests of this government intact. Granted, I would've preferred I knew who you really were before you came aboard my ship, but what's done is done. Anyway, enough about all that. I brought Mister Boric here to teach you, in a sort of crash course, how to use a reverse form of mnemotherapy that may serve you well in finally killing Alema. After all, what else are you going to do while you're still recovering in that tank, Miss Veila?"

"How are you hiding all this from Master Skywalker?" Tahiri asked.

"As you pointed out, Miss Veila, I seem to have a natural immunity to passive Force-scans. So, unless Skywalker really wants to know what I'm hiding, he currently has no reason to suspect me of any wrongdoing. Or at least he won't until after I've led him into the trap that I want you to play along in when you finally get out of that tank."

Boric's "crash course" in teaching Tahiri the reverse form of mnemotherapy happened fairly quickly, considering that all he did was just place both of his palms on the transparisteel that separated him from her and exert a great amount of Force-use toward her. In an instant, her mind was assaulted by images of the man's past, including so many instances of him using his abilities to drain the life out of innocent men, women, and children so that they could give him a temporary boost of Force-power. Those boosts that he would get, however, were temporary, often lasting a few days at most before his powers returned to normal. Tahiri would have wretched had she been more inclined to the light side of the Force as she had been when she was a Jedi. But as it was, she stomached the images so that she could move past them and learn the way Boric had learned how to reverse mnemotherapy within the span of half a minute.

When the entire process was done, her head felt as if it had been bounced around in a box made completely of duracrete, but even that side effect lasted for barely a quarter of a minute before she returned to feeling as she had before he reached out to her.

"This is only temporary," Boric told her in a voice that somehow sounded slimy. "It'll wear off after maybe... a few days tops before you forget everything I just showed you."

"Which means," Hesklon cut in, "that if we're going after Rar, we gotta do it fast if you're gonna be at your most useful against her, Miss Veila. So here's hoping that bacta works its magic on you quickly. In the meantime, here's what I want you to do once you're out."

Hesklon proceeded to tell her to emphasize her sense of loss and despair over Lowie's death when she finally emerged from the bacta tank to return to her quarters. This would, the admiral predicted, lure Luke Skywalker out of the Jade Shadow, which had been docked in one of the hangar bays of the Thrawn's Vindication, so that he could see her. Tahiri had also been told to do as best she could to act surprised had Luke broached the topic that Hesklon was aware of her true identity thanks to the recording. Between those two elements-her grief and her feigned surprise-the Grand Master of the Jedi Order would lower his guard so he wouldn't react in time to her using the Force to tear open the sofa cushion that contained the knockout aerosol.

"So remember to hold your breath when you tear open that cushion, Miss Veila," Hesklon concluded.

"Wait," Tahiri said.

"What?" Hesklon asked.

"Why only a knockout aerosol? Why not a lethal one?"

"I may not be a Force-user, Miss Veila," Hesklon began, "but I'm aware that if someone like Master Skywalker were to die, his presence would be felt by the entire Jedi Order. Would it not, Mister Boric?"

"When previous Master Listeners died," Boric said, "their departure from the mortal realm would be felt by other Listeners even on different parts of Nam Chorios. Considering the power that Luke Skywalker would have accumulated over his years as a Jedi, I have little doubt that his death would be felt by every living Jedi in his Order."

"Thus, Miss Veila," Hesklon said, "if we were to kill Luke Skywalker while we still have to deal with the Dark Nest as a threat, we would be turning the Jedi Order against us. And then the Empire of the Hand would not only have to deal with Gorog and still supply weapons, ships, and personnel to the Chiss Ascendancy in their continuing war against the Galactic Alliance, but also the Jedi on a direct front. So until Alema Rar and Gorog are dead, I have no intention of having my forces contend with the likes of Kyle Katarn and Kyp Durron. Is that understood, Miss Veila?"

"Yes, Admiral, it is," Tahiri replied evenly.

"Oh, and when you get out," Boric said, "I'll lend you my Force-powers and a little bit of my own life-essence. Like what you'll learn from me with reverse mnemotherapy, that extra boost you'll get will dissipate after a few days, as you saw when I showed you that fast-forward montage of my life, before I get it all back. So I hope you make good use of it, greenhorn."

Now, after having gone through what was an irrevocable betrayal of Master Skywalker, all Tahiri could think of was whether or not she really needed to have learned what Boric gave her through what she could only describe as a psychic violation, especially given what she was about to do next.

As liberal as she was in doling out quad laser fire on every dartship and Joiner vessel she encountered, she at least held herself back enough to make sure that those turrets wouldn't overheat once she entered the centermost nestship's hangar bay.

Eventually, after a few minutes of flying, dodging, and shooting enemy ships into oblivion, Tahiri finally entered the bay. However, instead of setting down so she could engage with Alema face-to-face, she set her X-wing to hover and began spinning around as she fired quad lasers every which way. It was only just enough not to overwhelm her inertial compensators as her lasers blew through the bulkheads and ceiling of the hangar to breach the upper and lower levels of the nestship.

If it hadn't been for Master Skywalker and Lowbacca's insistence that they meet Alema in person to see if there was any chance that she could be redeemed, Tahiri would have used this tactic in the first place.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long after Tahiri started shooting up the hangar that Gorog Killiks started filling up the hangar bay as before. The Sith simply turned her quad laser cannons on them, but even so, the swarm that came around her was too fast for her guns to vaporize at a time.

Fine, Tahiri thought. It looked like she would be face-to-face with Alema after all... and that unpleasant "crash course" with Boric would have some purpose, too.

While still firing, Tahiri set her X-wing straight so that it settled down just before the remaining Killiks started to crawl over her fighter. But once she had her crash-webbing released and her X-wing's canopy popped open, she unleashed a torrent of Force-lightning from each hand to surround her as she started to fry the Killiks around her.

As all of the dark negativity, as enhanced by Boric's "power loan," that had become her life started to overcome her faster than the Killiks could, Tahiri gingerly floated herself out of the X-wing to touch down gently on the hangar bay's deck, and all without letting up in her double torrent. The Force-lightning continued on as she started to walk slowly toward the nearest exit from the hangar bay; more and more Killiks died as her eyes were plunged into a deep, fiery red, and her once-fine features took on a haggard, withered quality that she was too enraged to feel.

This process for her was as gradual and slow as was her progress out of the hangar and into a corridor that took her to the nearest turbolift. From there, more Killiks poured out, yet they still couldn't get past Tahiri's Force-lightning. It wasn't long after that when she entered the 'lift and launched herself upward; her excessive energy broke through the elevator's roof before she rocketed to the topmost level of the nestship.

Only then did her double torrent cease, and only then did she suddenly feel weak and frail.

At the peak of her ascent, she barely caught both hands on the ledge of the 'lift doors that would lead to this nestship's bridge. Tahiri somehow found some reserve of energy left in her to keep from slipping to a death drop before using her right hand to force the 'lift doors open via telekinesis.

However, she almost slipped, prompting her to grunt in effort as she grabbed each side of the 'lift's threshold to pull herself in.

Unfortunately, once she laid on her back, she panted heavily, feeling too weak to even push herself to her feet and claim her vengeance against Alema.

So much for Boric's power boost, she thought bitterly.

She wasn't sure if it was hours, minutes, or seconds when the corridor around her suddenly swarmed with Gorog Killiks again. And from her upside down vantage point, Tahiri could see the sole Joiner among them, Alema, emerge and look down at her with a similar amount of strain on her face; indeed, Master Katarn was doing a good job at keeping her as weak as possible. Otherwise, Tahiri might have died already.

But from Tahiri's point of view, it looked like it wouldn't be enough, especially when the Twi'lek smiled maliciously down upon her.

"You know, you might not have been as pretty as us, Tahiri," Alema said in a mocking tone as she circled around the Sith, "but, man, oh, man, now you look like poodoo."

With a twisted grin, Tahiri wheezed a cynical laugh. "Yes, well, Alema... you might look like this... if you use... the dark side... long enough."

Alema tilted her head sideways as she gave a parody of Tahiri's grin and unhooked her lightsaber from her belt. "We're sure we'll find some suitable makeup to hide the flaws."

The Twi'lek activated her weapon and raised it up to strike Tahiri down.

But the human suddenly exerted a burst of Force-energy to propel herself upward and grasp each hand on each of the Twi'lek's lekku. In an instant, the images of all the pain, all the suffering, that Tahiri had to go through from her adolescent years onward—her torture under the Yuuzhan Vong, the loss of Anakin Solo, her own time with the Killiks, her torture/tutelage under Gosuj—poured into Alema's mind, and, by extension, the rest of the Gorog hive-mind. With Alema acting as the central hub for that hive-mind, there was nothing that any of the other Killiks or Joiners could do to resist Tahiri's attack.

Even the psychic attacks from Kyle Katarn ceased as the Jedi Master, for all of his years of experience as a Jedi, in dealing firsthand with practitioners of the dark side of the Force, had to recoil and pull his Force-presence back into himself; it was as if he had been physically hurt by this event.

As Tahiri felt, it seemed to outdo the pain and suffering that Alema and all of Gorog had felt in their own lives, both separate and together. So as the Twi'lek and the Killiks around them seized up in pain, Tahiri poured in more and more of that agony to completely overwhelm Alema.

Alema, Tahiri said into the Twi'lek's mind, say hi to Numa for me.

And with a feeling of utter satisfaction, of vindication, of her lust for revenge whetted, Tahiri watched as Alema's eyes rolled up into complete whites before she emitted a death knell of a screech that was shared by the Killiks surrounding her and her killer.

A second after that, Alema's body slumped against Tahiri, who pushed the corpse off of her and let it crumple to the deck. The Killiks surrounding Tahiri also dropped dead, the side effects of Tahiri's killing of Alema resulting in the complete extermination of the entire Gorog nest.

Tahiri looked up from Alema's body and wheezed a victorious—nay, a triumphant—laugh in having claimed her revenge in the now-empty corridors.

But deep down, in the sliver that remained of the goodness of her soul, the part that had feared that she would become what Anakin had seen so many years ago cried out in drowned anguish.