The Chiss shuttle's airlock docked with the New Purpose's airlock, and less than a minute later, Admiral Iosha and two bodyguards of her species stepped aboard the latter ship. Awaiting them was Darth Judicar, wearing her white mask that had several red tally marks that indicated her number of kills. The only things that Iosha could see through the mask were Judicar's glowing red-yellow eyes.
"Welcome aboard the New Purpose, Admiral Iosha," Judicar said formally. "Shall we speak in the galley?" In spite of her formality, Iosha could sense the same wariness through her Force-presence that she initially sensed when they made contact just minutes before.
"By your lead, Lord Judicar," Iosha replied just as formally with a nod.
Once they were in the Purpose's galley, Iosha turned to her guards and told them to, "Wait outside."
The guards obeyed without question nor with quizzical expressions on their faces, though the admiral could sense their reticence through the Force about her judgment over this matter. Nevertheless, once the guards were in the corridor and she and Judicar were left alone in the galley, the Chiss Sith turned and sat down across the table from the masked human.
"So you speak of an alliance between me the Sith Order that you represent?" Judicar asked.
"Well, before we speak of such an alliance," Iosha said, "I would appreciate if you removed that mask for the duration of this conversation."
"Why?"
"To better facilitate trust between us."
"I think we can facilitate enough trust with this mask on my face."
"Can we now? What have you to hide, Lord Judicar?"
The human said nothing for several seconds before she reached one hand beneath the mask and pulled it off. She set it down on the tabletop next to her and allowed Iosha to regard her shriveled face.
"Ah," Iosha said. "So you have yet to master the ability to disguise your usage of the dark side?"
Judicar grimaced. But a few seconds later, her skin began to smooth out and the color of her eyes returned to their natural shade of brown.
"Hmm," Iosha said neutrally. "Impressive. Most impressive."
Judicar looked at the Chiss in confusion. "So you don't know who I am?"
"Oh, no, I do. You're Jaina Solo. Or, rather, I assume that name no longer has any meaning to you?"
"It doesn't."
"As it should be. Now, then, Lord Judicar, how best can we work with each other?"
"I have no intention of working for the Chiss Ascendancy, if that's what you're wondering."
"Of course not," Iosha replied with a tilt of her head. "You hate them too much. Your recent history with them during the Killik crisis of last year guarantees you could never swear any fealty to the Chiss Ascendancy."
"You speak as if you're not a Chiss."
"I am only in terms of species, not in mentality. I may pretend fealty to the Ascendancy, but I am a Sith above all else and don't you think any differently, Lord Judicar."
"I won't."
"Very well then. So back to the matter at hand. You may not wish to have any involvement with the Chiss, but at the same time, I can't have you openly oppose the Ascendancy, which, at this point, operates under the will of my Master. Through me and Admiral Ulaska as his primary conduits, of course."
"If you're suggesting that I become subservient to your Master, that won't happen, either. I like working by myself, for myself."
"Of course you do. But that doesn't mean that we can't benefit from a certain arrangement, Lord Judicar."
"What do you propose, Admiral Iosha?"
"There is a world that the Empire of the Hand had discovered in Wild Space before this war had broken out. Our spies in that government—and when I say 'our,' I, of course, mean the organization of Sith of which I am a part—discovered that may be of particular interest to you."
"Oh, yeah? How so?"
"Tell me, Lord Judicar, have you ever heard of an ancient Sith vessel known as... the Omen?"
. . .
An abrupt flash of light awakened Ben from his most recent sleep, though he still felt groggy from the previous injection of sedative that the Bothan mercenaries gave him. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was once again in the cargo hold of a Z-95 Headhunter—he wasn't sure if it was the same one that took him from the Home—and two mercs looked down at him briefly before they dragged him out by the shoulders.
Once he set his shaky bare feet on the rocky ground, Ben started to shiver profusely. Since he was kidnapped by Jaina from the Errant Venture, he still hadn't been changed out of the pajamas that he had, and the severe beatings that Lumiya had given him the one full day he had aboard the Home had resulted in tears and lacerations across his body that left him feeling as angry as he felt helpless.
Now the anger, fear, and grief for his mother that encompassed his soul were paradoxically flamed by the frigid, cold air of the world that the mercs had brought him to. And the forest ahead—a sight that would normally indicate a fair, temperate climate—looked twisted and spindly among various trees and bushes, as if it had been corrupted by the dark side of the Force.
And even from his still-drugged state, Ben could feel that that was exactly the case. This whole world felt like a focal point of the dark side, and it seemed to call to him, pulling his spirit along in its currents without having to take it from his mortal coil.
Now he realized that it wasn't the cold that was paradoxically flaming the dark emotions that engulfed his inner being; it was the dark side itself, feeding upon his anger, hatred, and grief as it understandably should.
After the two Bothans released his shoulders, one of them shoved Ben hard in the back, causing him to stumble forward. Already, he felt a cut on the sole of his right foot from a jagged edge of rock.
Nevertheless, he kept the pain from his face when he turned to look back at the mercs.
"Get goin', kid," the one who pushed him said. "Miss Syo said it's part o' yer trainin'."
"You got five minutes to start runnin'," the other merc elaborated. "After that, we get to do everythin' in our power to kill you."
"And not just us," the first merc said. "But our friends up in orbit, too."
"And the neks we brought along, as well," the second one added.
"Oh, yeah, the neks, I forgot about those," the first one said in a tone that indicated that he didn't actually forget about them.
When Ben just stood there, seething in anger and hatred, for nearly fifteen seconds, the merc who pushed him brought out his hand blaster from its holster and fired a shot in the air. That was all it took to convince Ben to turn around and start running as fast as his drugged state would allow; only then did he allow himself to cry.
"Welcome to Ziost, kid!" the first merc shouted at Ben's retreating form. "You're gonna have the time o' yer life here!"
The last Ben heard of the mercs before the hunt for him officially started was them howling like their evolutionary ancestors.
. . .
When Jacen returned to Shedu Maad two days after departing from the Errant Venture, he made a stop to the Jedi Temple's archives and downloaded a map of the Kanz sector into his datapad. He then headed directly for the Grand Master's office.
As he approached the office, he saw that there was a desk station set up with a dark-haired, fair-skinned human woman in her early twenties and dressed in Jedi robes sitting behind it. She looked up at him from whatever she was reading and asked, "May I help you, Jedi Solo?"
Jacen stopped near the desk and looked at the woman in confusion. "Are... are you a secretary?"
"We prefer the term executive assistants, thank you very much," the woman said stiffly. "And, yes, I am."
"I see. Funny. That wasn't a thing before."
"Not under Master Skywalker, no. But under acting Grand Master Hamner, it is."
"Oh, Kenth Hamner's in charge now," Jacen remarked evenly. "I see."
"Now how may I help you, sir?"
"I'm here to see the... acting Grand Master."
"Do you have an appointment, Jedi Solo?"
"Appointment? Um, no, but look-"
"Well, you'll need to schedule one if you want to see him, sir. If you would like to, I'd be glad to-"
"Look, listen, Miss..." Jacen trailed off as he looked at the name plate before him. "Dinn. This is a matter of life and death; my kid cousin is missing and I need to meet with Master Hamner to see if he can help me out."
At that, the stiffness in the woman's attitude lightened and her expression became one of concern. "Your kid cousin? You mean... Ben Skywalker?"
"Yes. And I think I may have an idea of where he is."
"Well, if that's the case..." Nelani Dinn trailed off before she activated her desk's intercom. "Master Hamner?"
A moment later, Kenth Hamner's voice replied with, "Yes, Nelani?"
"Jedi Jacen Solo is here to see you, sir. He doesn't have an appointment, but he says it's urgent; it relates to the whereabouts of Ben Skywalker."
"Send him in."
"Thank you," Jacen said before he headed into the office.
Once inside, the first thing Jacen did was place his datapad onto Hamner's desk and activated the holographic copy of the Kanz sector.
"I believe, Master Hamner," Jacen said without preamble, "that Ben is somewhere within this sector. Specifically, somewhere near Bimmiel, if not there directly."
"I see," Hamner replied. "And what makes you think that, Jedi Solo?"
"Because during my investigation of the Errant Venture, I saw the spirit of my dead brother Anakin tell me that Ben would be somewhere near that planet."
"Is that so?" Hamner sounded skeptical.
Jacen nodded, evidently missing the acting Grand Master's tone. "Yes, it is. So what I was hoping that you would do is if you'd assign someone to help narrow down certain areas of space in the Kanz sector, those specifically within, say, a few light years or so of Bimmiel and-"
"Before I do that, Jedi Solo, can you tell me more about this vision that you saw of your brother?"
"Uh," Jacen said in an off-guarded way. "Well, there's not much to tell, really. Actually, before he told me about Ben's whereabouts, Anakin said that there was still hope for Jaina."
"Oh?"
"Yeah; that's it."
"So the spirit of your brother told you that there was still hope for your sister and that your cousin was somewhere near Bimmiel. That's what you're telling me, Jedi Solo?"
"Yes, it is. Why? Do you... do you think I'm lying, Master Hamner?" Jacen asked with some shock in his tone.
Hamner shook his head. "Not at all. I know you're telling the truth, Jedi Solo... at least as you see it."
"Master Hamner?"
"Something that doesn't make sense to me, Jedi Solo, is the lack of specificity that your brother provided. Now I remember the stories that your uncle recounted at various times in the Jedi Order, of the lengthy conversations that he would have with the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi. So if Master Skywalker could have entire conversations with a man whom he only knew for a few days, why were you unable to receive anymore reliable information from your own brother about the whereabouts of your cousin?"
"Does it really matter, Master Hamner?" Jacen asked impatiently. "Anakin provided a baseline to begin a search for Ben, so we should-"
"Question the reliability of the information that you were presented with, Jedi Solo."
Jacen levelled a disbelieving look down upon Hamner.
"We both know," the acting Grand Master continued, "that you have been dealing with a great deal of grief lately, Jacen. You have lost a great deal of friends, all of whom were survivors of the Mission to Myrkr during the Yuuzhan Vong War. And your sister fell to the dark side of the Force after having made several rash decisions that cost her her standing within this Order."
"Master Hamner, I don't think this-"
"As well," Hamner intoned in a definite way that cut Jacen off, "you had undergone a great deal of emotional distress during the mission to Centerpoint Station when you saw the robot duplicate of your brother."
Jacen's jaw dropped. "How could you know that?"
"As acting Grand Master of the Jedi Order, it's my business to know these things, Jacen."
After a moment, Jacen asked, "Why would Uncle Luke tell you that?"
"Even in his grief, he informed me about the leave of absence he granted you and the reasoning behind it. Again, part of my business of being the acting Grand Master."
Jacen sighed in frustration. "Okay, look, even if you don't want me involved in looking for Ben because of possible misjudgment based on grief or stress or whatever, Master Hamner, at least give this information to someone who can-"
"I will do no such thing."
Now Jacen looked angry. "What?!"
"You heard me, Jedi Solo. The Chiss War is the Jedi Order's main priority, and I will not send a single Jedi over what could ultimately be a wild bantha chase based on what is, at best, a dubious lead on the whereabouts of Ben Skywalker."
"You... you can't-"
"Yes, I can, Jedi Solo. And, by the way, I officially rescind your leave of absence from the Order." Hamner reached into a drawer in his desk and withdrew a datapad. "Here is your assignment."
Jacen only looked at Hamner angrily before the latter said in a firm voice, "Take the datapad, Jedi Solo."
Reluctantly, Jacen obeyed and looked through it. When he was done, he said, "It looks like Masters Lobi and Ramis are perfectly capable of retaking Adumar from the Chiss. And they each have a Knight helping them out, not to mention several platoons of soldiers. Why would you have me-"
"They need the help, Jedi Solo. And do not question orders, not while I'm in charge around here. Now go."
Jacen nodded several times. "Okay, I'll go." He turned and left the office.
"How did it go?" Nelani asked as Jacen passed by.
"Oh, just great," Jacen replied sarcastically without slowing down.
Once he was out of sight from Nelani, he dropped the 'pad that Hamner gave him into the nearest garbage chute as he made the rest of the way back to the Temple's hangar bay.
Fine, Jacen thought. If Hamner wasn't going to give him the help he needed to find Ben, then he'd do it himself, no matter how long it took.
He just hoped that however much time he had, it would be enough to save Ben from whatever fate awaited him.
Little did he know just how too late he was.
