Outside the Jedi base on Shedu Maad, Ben Skywalker, with Tenel Ka's cousins, was watching the battle rage on as boring as it was. The crew of the Anakin Solo hadn't been expecting an attack at this moment. Ben didn't doubt Caedus's overconfidence in their victory had a very large part to do with it. The Moffs and the Anakin Solo'screw had all been caught off guard when the Jedi had started raiding with StealthXs and invaded their territory. Immediately, nearly all of Caedus's forces had surrendered. Once all their forces had been disabled, he'd been anxious to find Tahiri, gently confront her. He was sure she could be turned back, perhaps she even wanted to. She just needed to be shown that his family, and the Jedi Order, would be eager to welcome her back.
It had been too easy for Caedus to bend the woman to his will. He'd used her vulnerabilities pertaining to her late friend and bent her like copper with a thousand meaningless promises. And that was all he'd ever had to do. At the sound of his name, Tahiri was hooked and the dark side had taken her under her own waves of misery, burnt her fire, clouded her vision. Caedus had sucked up her use, then dropped her back to the side like a dead, withered flower.
Caedus had used the name, memory, and face of the younger Solo son; it made Ben sick to think back on the last year. Tahiri had never deserved this, but Caedus had never cared and what had been done was done. Now, Ben only hoped to help Tahiri out of the whirlpool she'd been dragged into.
Ben had finally found a chance to redeem the poor woman, had seen the true Tahiri Veila in her cry out for mercy. She wasn't cut out to be a Sith. The lightsaber just didn't fit. He remembered watching as Tahiri tortured Shevu, always careful not to take it too far. And when the officer had died, Ben had seen the turmoil in Tahiri surface without a guard, guilt and horror at herself washing over like a sudden alarm. She'd been horrified, dismayed, ultimately guilty for having killed Lon Shevu. That was a redeemable person.
He recalled Tenel Ka saying something about, if a person was to turn back from the dark side, they must first want to be redeemed. Ben had no doubt in his mind that Tahiri wanted to be redeemed, that she knew all this was very wrong. Dressed in those black and gray GAG uniforms, wearing a red-bladed lightsaber at her hip, she looked uncomfortable, ashamed, like she'd tried a few sizes but none of them fit. Tahiri was not a Sith. She never had been. Even Caedus hadn't been strong enough to break that part of the fierce woman. She was a Jedi at heart.
"I'll keep the troopers out," he heard Taryn, the more flirty of the two Hapan twin sisters, say as she tossed Ben a large blaster. He saw Tahiri, panicked, her face red, watching him for a second before turning and running like she expected him to shoot her. Although, that was what Taryn and Trista were waiting for. He fired around her, trying to get her to stop but she wouldn't. Nimble on her feet, she dodged other shots from the Hapans and ran from them all without even one more glance back. "Tahiri!" he shouted, trying to get her attention. "Tahiri!" Still, she didn't stop, racing across a mine shaft where some of the other Hapan guards were staying posted. "Tahiri! You don't need to run! Just come back to the Order!" Her blonde hair flew behind her like a flag, floating in the wind she made as she continued her pointless race.
Ben caught Tahiri running past the closest mine shaft, finally looking, and now constantly, past her shoulder to him. She's running from me, he realized. Guilt had Tahiri Veila consumed, eating at her like she was only a rotting carcass, already dead. She was so ashamed, Ben knew he had to make her see that she was welcome back anytime she wanted, she just had to stop.
A flicker of danger sense shot up his spine and Ben, not yet understanding looked to one of the mine shafts. He saw the blue, slick outfit of a Hapan Royal guard just as her black, heavy-duty blaster assault rifle fired.
Jaina hardly had the strength to sound her gasp. The eyes were closed, but Jaina still recognized the face of her little brother. Though her mind was scattered in confusion, she forced herself to have half a clear head and she ran a quick analysis of his wounds. It worked as a decent distraction, busying herself with something else to focus on. But, after a brief glance over, Jaina was left feeling even more confused and terrified than before. The dead weight body in her lap bore two significant wounds, though his body was covered in blood and bruises; one was an injury to a thigh and the other to his side. Baanu Rass! Baanu Rass! Baanu Rass! Her mind screamed and the tears she'd been holding in for so long finally fell.
Finally, she allowed herself to say it. "Anakin."
Master Kyp Durron led the team of Jedi Masters from the Council as they raided the Moffs' main chamber. Saba, Corran, and Kyle all followed close behind. The Moffs stood straight up in their chairs, trying, and failing, to hide their shock and fear. They traded a few nervous looks with each other but most kept looking to a tall one with gray, thin hair and a sharp chin and nose. The man gave a quick nod and turned his attention back to the Jedi. Han and Jagged Fel entered the chamber a couple seconds later and Han demanded, carelessly waving his blaster around at all the Moffs, "Whose idea was it to sneak the nanokiller aboard Tenel ka's flagship?" Han found a suspect who looked the most frightened and pressed his blaster to the Moff's head. "What's your name? Was it your idea?"
The tall, gray Moff stood and looked dispassionately to his peers. "What do you care? My 'friends' have appointed me to take the blame. So, go ahead- if you must."
Han almost shot the guy right then and there and just about every other Moff in the room, too. But, Luke wouldn't have allowed that. Against Han's advice, Luke and Jagged had coordinated a deal with them as opposed to sending them to live the rest of their lives as prisoners of war in the Hapes Cluster. Killing the Chume'da was a crime that the Hapan people would not so easily forgive.
"Well, how many do you think it would take?" Luke asked, eyeing Han's favorite blaster.
Han looked around the room at all the people responsible for killing Allana with a bit of annoyance. "Probably more than you can spare." After reaching the conclusion that he would never get the chance to kill his granddaughter's killers, Han sighed, dropping his DL-44 into its proper holster.
Tenel Ka, the esteemed Hapan Queen Mother, joined them in their negotiations, adding to the Moffs' unease as they had just killed her daughter. After they were done, Tenel Ka quickly left, motioning for Han to join her. "Come with me, Captain Solo. There is something I really must tell you."
By the time Jag came hurrying in, Jaina had given up on moving. She'd tried to begin healing the wounds of the body lying beside her, but she didn't have the energy to help herself. Jag cast one disgusted look at the body before he turned his attention to Jaina. "You did it," he praised her and the comment settled in Jaina's stomach about as well as spoiled milk.
One of the body's arms was sprawled out, lying near Jaina. Jag didn't like it and he kicked it aside.
"No!" Jaina yelled and the effort sent waves of pain up her ribs and throat.
"Relax," Jag told her, touching a hand to her side. She yowled in pain. "We're here. It's over." He gingerly lifted her arm and grimaced. "If you lasted this long, I'd love to see what you put him through." He cast a glance over his shoulder.
Jaina shook her head. "That's . . . not Caedus."
"What?"
"Oh, Jaina!"
She rolled her head over to see both of her parents hurrying in. Their composures were already broken as they struggled to keep their gazes on her. Leia's face was pale and her shoulders shook and her lips trembled. Her father seemed to be holding up stronger. Jaina figured it was for her mother's sake.
They collapsed at her side, Leia already rushing to comfort her despite her own brokenness. She brushed a hand through Jaina's hair and gently settled on her burned arm before pulling off her medpac and opening it. Han gave her one look before digging into Leia's medpac and pulling out sterinumb and bacta bandages. He was wholly occupied with tending to her and Jaina let him be because she didn't know what to say about the broken body lying beside her. They must've thought it was Jacen's body because Han, Leia, and Luke avoided looking at it like the Crimson Fever. But she caught it the moment that her mom's gaze slipped to the body and a look of terrified confusion crossed her face and no matter how hard she tried- she just couldn't shake it. She forced herself to look away, focusing her attention o helping Jaina.
"No, Mom," she managed, pushing Leia's hand away from her. "Trust the Force. Don't ignore . . . what . . . what it tells you."
Leia held her gaze for a long moment, her lip trembling violently. Her head fell to the side and a breath escaped her. Jaina nodded and Leia nearly collapsed. But she found the strength to gather herself and hurried for the body across from Jaina.
"Leia!" Han yelled, reaching behind him to catch his wife's arm but she was moving too quickly. "Leia, stop!"
Harsher than she meant to, Leia pushed his arm back with a quick touch of the Force and she hurried to gather the body in her arms. She held the head in her lap and brushed aside the long, sweaty, bloody ringlets-
And there he was.
Tahiri Veila spun with the force of the laserfire. She fell to the ground, leaves crunching beneath her. Fear and pain both demanded her attention, racking her senses. She pushed herself up and looked for the wound. Her thigh bled freely from the shot and she cried out in pain. More laserfire sounded around her. She shot to her feet and raced off, but stumbled with the effort, kept going anyway, fought to remain conscious, fought to keep running. The strayed Jedi Knight tripped on the ground and fell again. Footsteps sounded behind her, hurrying, drawing closer, closer, closer. Looking back, Tahiri saw Ben. "No," she muttered, uneasily getting to her feet again. She held onto anything she could for support and tottered away on shaky legs. "No. Must go. Keep . . . going, Tahiri. Keep going," she encouraged herself, still trying despite her current self-hatred.
"Tahiri!" Ben shouted from behind her. "Tahiri, wait! I'm here to help you! Tahiri, the Order is waiting for you to come back!"
She stopped, too weak to go on. "No, Ben. I can't. I betrayed them."
"So did I. They still care about me."
"You're . . . Grand Master's son. They kinda' have to."
"Then they're going to kinda' have to welcome you back too because my Dad wants you to come back."
Tahiri shook her head, the effects of blood loss taking its toll on her. "Can't. Betrayed Anakin. Betrayed family. All family I have. Solos. Tried killing . . . Mom. Leia doesn't . . . deserve that."
"Neither do you," Ben added, picking up Tahiri in his arms and carrying her to the Jedi's base. "Now, let's get you out of here before Tenel Ka's guards kill you. Aunt Leia wants you back in one piece."
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