Jaden rolled to his right, leaving Solo to carve a furrow where he was just lying. Once the now-obvious Sith looked to his direction, Jaden was already on his feet and had his yellow-bladed lightsaber in hand and active. The two combatants then rushed towards each other and immediately began clashing blades without another word exchanged between them.

For well over a minute, both Jedi and Sith stood fixed in their positions as their lightsabers moved like blurs, with only slight variances of intensity in how those blades met each other. When that minute was done, Solo was the one to break the stalemate when she finally got through Jaden's defenses and kicked him in the stomach.

He flew back by several meters before rolling over his shoulder and landing in a crouch; by then, however, Solo had caught up to him and began striking at his defenses. He was only able to fight in that crouched position for less than a quarter of a minute before Solo reached a leg out and tripped him to his back. But then he scissored his legs between Solo's right one and then had her on her back a second later. Jaden then flipped himself to his feet, only for Solo to Force-blast him back with her free hand.

This time, the Jedi went flying several meters through the air so that he reached the edge of Thiss. He was barely able to Force-cushion his landing in time, but when he did, he bounced off the small of his back and then flipped over so that he was then hanging off the platform's ledge.

When Jaden pulled himself back up to Thiss' surface, Solo Force-sped up to him and nearly skewered him with her blade; he almost didn't block the strike. Unfortunately, the Sith found an opening and Force-blasted him back again so that he flew over the gaping abyss that led to the deep forest floor below and toward the massive trunk of a tree behind him.

Jaden recovered in time to flip back and land in another crouch on the trunk while Solo was in the midst of a Force-leap toward that very same trunk. But before the Jedi could knock her momentum away and send her to her death below, the Sith unleashed a torrent of Force-lightning from her free hand that prompted Jaden to block it with his 'saber.

The torrent only ceased right when Solo was less than a meter away from him; and Jaden was only able to roll off to his left a bare second before his opponent would have split him from groin to head where he stood.

They turned back to each other, rushed in again, and resumed their duel; this time, their standing stalemate lasted for less than thirty seconds before Jaden broke it by leaping over Solo. She blocked his overhead swing while he was in the air, but what he didn't count on was the elbow to the face that he received before he even landed.

He collapsed prone upon the trunk, but he was still able to block Solo's next strike toward his back. Jaden then swung his body around so that he kicked a boot upon her right knee; Solo grunted as she knelt on her good leg. Jaden, meanwhile, had turned himself to his back and resumed their duel in this new position. They fought like this for less than ten seconds before Jaden caught Solo's blade with his own, with the former being positioned vertically while the latter was horizontal, and then caught her two-handed grip between both his boots.

Upon releasing Solo's hands from his boots less than a second later, she emitted a brief but pained yowl as her 'saber fell from her hands and into the abyss. She reeled back from the pain in her hands as Jaden leaped back to his feet and charged at Solo.

But just as he reached her and was about to strike her down, another lightsaber flew from beneath her sleeve and activated a deep purple blade that caught Jaden's.

The two of them stood there as Jaden pressed his blade against the purple one, and he asked through gritted teeth, "So... is this Anakin's?"

Solo only snarled in response; two seconds later, her red-bladed lightsaber had flown back into her other hand and activated. Jaden was then driven back by the newfound intensity of Solo's double-bladed attacks, unable to find a bearing to stand his ground until his back hit the main body of the tree. From there, he could only leap straight up, blocking both of Solo's blades on the way, and once he reached the crescendo of his ascent, he placed the soles of his boots upon the tree behind him and pushed off toward another tree slightly off to his right.

As he soared through the air, he turned his head around and saw that Solo was now following him through the air from a Force-assisted takeoff.

When he reached the next tree, Jaden Force-pushed himself off of that and then headed upward back to the massive plant from which he came.

Once both his and Solo's trajectories reached a parallel point, Jaden threw out his free hand to Force-shove the Sith down to the abyss. However, she was ready for him and Force-pulled him out of his own trajectory so that he would descend with her; and as they fell, the Sith pulled the Jedi closer and closer to him so that their blades met again.

"You think any Force-cushioning is gonna save us here, Korr?!" Solo yelled over the sounds of their blades and the wind accompanying their descent.

He didn't bother answering; he just kept dueling, barely able to hold back the two-bladed attack from the Sith.

They fell for what had to be over a hundred meters before Solo suddenly deactivated the purple-bladed 'saber and hooked it back to her belt even as her Sith 'saber maintained the duel. And then, fifty meters later, Solo used her free hand to send Jaden flying forward to the nearest trunk. Instinctively, he erected a Force-shield around himself before he impacted against it.

But it wasn't enough; as his body folded over the trunk, his Force-presence disappeared from Darth Judicar's senses even as she plunged her lightsaber into the tree's body. The Sith blade scored itself through several dozen meters before its owner angled it downward so that the pommel embedded itself into the wood. Only then did Judicar's descent finally cease, and she took a moment to herself to look back up.

She had a long way to go before she made it back to Thiss; and hopefully, by then, she'll be gone from Kashyyyk before anyone responded to the Far Wanderer's destruction.

So, as Judicar began her ascension back to the platform where the New Purpose awaited her, she paid no further mind to the apparent corpse of Jaden Korr.

. . .

Being one of the most able master swordsmen in the Jedi Order, Kyle Katarn had been ordered by Kenth Hamner to stay in Shedu Maad's Jedi Temple as they, along with Master Octa Ramis and several other Knights, awaited some kind of word from Jacen Solo to head to the Corellian system; after all, a lot was riding on the plan to entrap Chiss Admirals Ulaska and Iosha and have them exposed as Force-users to their species' Ascendancy.

A part of Kyle wanted to be back out and fight in one of the battles against the Chiss; but he saw Kenth's point and obeyed the acting Grand Master, albeit with great reluctance.

But as luck, or the Force, would have it, perhaps it really was a good thing that Kyle had been ordered to stay on Shedu Maad; otherwise, he might not have been immediately able to go directly to Kenth's office and tell him about what he felt.

"I need to go to Kashyyyk, Master Hamner," Kyle said as he stood straight, as if he were a formal part of the Galactic Alliance military.

"Why, Master Katarn?" Hamner asked.

"Because Jedi Knight Jaden Korr is in a Force-induced coma there. I felt it only minutes ago, right before I came to your office."

"Your connection to your former apprentice allows you that kind of clarity, Master Katarn?"

"It does; he was able to send me images through that connection. I recognize the landscape of Kashyyyk from previous visits there."

"Were you able to see anything else through those images, Master Katarn? Such as how Jedi Korr was placed into that coma in the first place?"

"Yes, Master Hamner; I saw him dueling Jaina Solo."

"Jaina Solo?"

"That's correct; but I noticed something peculiar in the brief flashes I got of their duel. Solo was wielding both a crimson-bladed lightsaber, characteristic of the Sith as you know, and her traditional purple one."

"Is that so?"

Kyle nodded. "That could mean something. Perhaps she's having a crisis of identity; maybe she's torn between her former life as a Jedi and her new life as a Sith, and that could mean-"

"Save your speculation for when it's more relevant, Master Katarn. Right now, let's just stick to the facts."

Kyle's facial and body expressions, as well as his Force-presence, were reserved. "Yes, Master Hamner," he replied simply.

"So Jaina Solo was last seen on Kashyyyk. She may very well still be there. Although, by the time we dispatch anyone there, she might be long gone." Hamner placed his right index finger and thumb under his chin in thought.

"May I make a suggestion, Master Hamner?"

"You may."

"We could speak to Solo's parents; perhaps they can offer some insight as to where their daughter could be going if she was on Kashyyyk and any potential reason she could have been there in the first place."

A moment of thoughtful silence later, Hamner said, "Agreed."

. . .

Luke stood a respectful distance away from Ben as his son sat alone, staring ahead at Shedu Maad's setting sun, in a field of grass less than a kilometer away from the Jedi Temple. He would have been sitting there next to him, perhaps saying something to him, perhaps remaining silent with him; but right now, he could sense from Ben's presence that he needed to be alone right now, to be left with his own thoughts about his mother's death. So, as it was, Luke decided to be there for him without intruding on Ben's desire to be alone.

Leia's presence was made known to his senses before she announced herself from behind him with, "Hey."

He turned and said with a sad smile, "Hey," before turning back to regard his son.

Leia sidled up next to him to join him in looking out for Ben. "So," she said, "are you allowing him his privacy through the Force, as well?"

"Yes, I am."

"So you have no more of an idea of what's going through his head right now than me, eh?"

"No."

"Fair enough. We all need our space sometimes."

"Yes, we do," Luke said distractedly.

Leia glanced at her brother for a moment, who didn't take his eyes off of Ben, before she sighed. "Luke... there's something you should know; it's something that's been eating away at me since Mara..."

Now he looked at his sister, though neither his outward expressions or Force-presence changed. "What is it?" he asked softly.

"The last time I spoke to her, Luke..." She trailed off as tears started to form in her eyes. Leia looked away for a moment before looking back at him. "She told me that when Jaina and Jacen fought on Coruscant while you were in the Unknown Regions, Mara had helped Jacen through the Force. She said that she did it not just to save him, but because she felt that Jaina was beyond hope."

"And?"

Leia sighed more deeply this time. "I told her that if she did anything to hurt Jaina again, I would kill her... and I meant it, Luke." Now tears streamed from her face.

"Why are you telling me this, Leia?" Luke asked; he looked hurt.

"Because I thought you should know," Leia replied earnestly. "That was the last thing I said to her before..." She shook her head, closed her eyes, and then looked to her feet. "Now I can't take it back. Now I can't let Mara know how much I cared for her, how much I loved her myself, and how I can't believe I allowed our relationship as sisters to deteriorate the way that it did. I know... I know Jaina is my daughter, but now... now I'm starting to wonder if I was right to defend her in the first place."

Now Leia sobbed as she was torn between her grief for Mara and her grief for what Jaina had been.

"Leia?"

She ceased her sobbing long enough to find her brother looking back at Ben again; night had now fallen completely over this side of Shedu Maad.

"Yes?" Leia asked.

"I honestly wish I could say that you were right to defend Jaina in the first place," Luke replied, still not taking his eyes off of Ben. "That would be the Jedi Grand Master thing to say. But what I'm about to say is something that I never thought I'd find myself saying."

Then he turned to look her in the eyes.

"Mara was right," he said, as if those words were sending glass through his vocal chords. "Jaina, your daughter, is beyond hope."

Even though she had come to the same conclusion herself, Leia was still shocked that Luke would actually agree with her. He was the better one between the two of them, the calm and collected Jedi Master who had gone through the worst of his trials in his battles against Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine; yet here he was, saying that his niece, her daughter, was beyond hope.

Luke looked back at Ben; it was obvious that he had nothing more to say.

And neither did Leia; she turned and hurried back to the Jedi Temple, barely holding it together as her grief for what Jaina had been seemed to have been solidified by Luke's judgment.

By the time she returned to the Temple, she was only meters away from the entrance before she gave up, collapsed to her hands and knees, and began crying, as if feeling that all hope had truly been lost for her daughter.

Luke, meanwhile, had opened himself up to his connection to his sister to feel her pain. But he found that he couldn't share it; whatever love he had for Jaina, whatever hope he had for her turning back to the light, was gone the moment Ben revealed that she had killed Mara.

And if that clouded Luke's judgment over his niece's chances of turning away from the Sith, he didn't care to make that self-assessment.

. . .

Only moments after she had ceased her crying outside the Jedi Temple did Leia receive a commlink call from Kenth Hamner; he asked her to come to his office and to expect Han to be there, too.

When she got there, her eyes were dry again, though she didn't bother to apply any makeup to hide the red marks on her face that were caused by the tears. If Han or Hamner were going to comment on it, she would just say she didn't want to talk about it and insist that they get on with whatever they were meeting over.

Once she got there, she only received a concerned look from Han, but at a glare from her, he didn't comment on it. Neither Hamner nor Kyle Katarn, who was also present, seemed to have noticed the evidence of Leia's crying.

"Master Katarn, if you will," Hamner said.

"Han, Leia," Kyle said, "we think we may know where Jaina is."

Both Solo spouses stiffened at that. "Where?" they asked simultaneously.

Kyle paused before he spoke again. "Before you go running off to where I say she'll be, just keep in mind, she may already be gone by the time you get there."

"Duly noted," Han said anxiously. "Now where is she?"

"Also," Kyle said, ignoring Han, "in case she isn't there anymore, I need you both to answer where she could be going."

"Fine," Leia said stoically for the both of them. "Go ahead."

Kyle nodded. "Kashyyyk."

Instead of prompting the both of them to turn around and head straight for the Millennium Falcon, even Han looked like he was willing to stay now.

"Kashyyyk?" Han asked.

"Yes," Kyle said. "Now answer me this: why would she be there? Is there anything from that planet that may lead us to where she could be off to next?"

Han and Leia looked at each other, then back at Kyle. "No," they both answered sequentially this time.

"Alright then," Kyle said. "What if I told you that not only was Jaina wielding a Sith-bladed lightsaber, but she was also wielding her purple one, as well? I received this information from my connection to Jaden Korr, by the way; he's alright but in a coma, in case you're wondering."

"Thank you for letting us know, Master Katarn," Leia said patiently.

Han shrugged as Leia's eyes narrowed in thought. "Maybe Jaina didn't wanna get rid of her Jedi lightsaber. Maybe she thought it was more useful to have two of 'em instead of one."

"Then why not just have two Sith lightsabers?" Kyle asked.

"Does it really matter?" Han asked impatiently.

"I think it does, Han," Leia spoke up. "But something tells me that the purple lightsaber wasn't Jaina's."

"What makes you say that, Leia?" Kyle asked.

"Tell me, Han," Leia said, "where did you leave Anakin's lightsaber?"

Han stopped for a moment; then his face widened in realization as his memory for where he left his dead son's weapon came back to him.

"So Jaina is wielding Anakin's lightsaber now," Hamner spoke up; his tone, however, remained more or less neutral. "Why would she take it?"

"Yes, why would she take it?" Leia asked. "Unless there's something about that lightsaber that could mean something to her."

"A memory of her brother, perhaps?" Kyle asked.

"Maybe," Leia said. "But knowing Jaina, even after what she's turned into, I think she might be using it for a more practical purpose. And not just as an extra weapon."

"What then?" Hamner asked.

"Well... it's a long shot," Leia said, "but I think Jaina is going to use Anakin's lightsaber... to reactivate Centerpoint Station."